


Divergent Points: ML Salt

by Keyseeker



Series: Pointsverse [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Also some analysis of scenes slipped in, Alya Is Loved And Protected, Alya needs a hug, Deconstruction, Especially Marinette with seeing someone who looks like her used to hurt her friends, F/M, I think I gave enough background that if you want to start with this entry you probably can, Just in that chapter though, Like of that scene in Syren, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Would Not Get Mad At Him For That If She Knew, Marinette vs. Saltinette: Chameleon Edition, Neither would the others, Not on Marinette, Salt Parody, Salt on Saltinette, She's a good bean who loves and cares for her friends, They all get those hugs, They love and care for her back, They see how salt treats everyone, They're not happy, Though I'd still recommend reading the earlier installments, Watching the Show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyseeker/pseuds/Keyseeker
Summary: Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino travel through various Salt worlds, trying to find their way home.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Series: Pointsverse [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511441
Comments: 343
Kudos: 329





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick recap for people either just joining or for who it’s been awhile since they read the previous entries:
> 
> Adrien, Alya, Marinette, and Nino all know each other’s identities, Chameleon went a little differently with Alya taking the lead on calling out Lila’s lies, Lila threatening both Alya and Marinette, and Adrien and Nino being fully aware of said threats, and Alya and Nino are permanent miraculous holders with Nino being trained to be the next Guardian.
> 
> I think that'd probably be enough to carry you through the story for the most part if you want to start with this one? Though I still recommend reading the previous entries of course; most of them are one-shots anyway.

_ “You’ve been doing  _ what _?” _

_ Adrien slowly backed away from her, eyes wide, shaking his head. _

_ She reached out to him. “I- I only wanted to know where you were. What you were doing. I- I love you!” _

_ He slapped her hand away. “By making a detailed schedule of where I was going to be at all times?! By following me?! And those pictures on your walls! And I even found out you broke into my locker and stole my phone!” _

_ “I just wanted to look at your face all the time! I care for you so much. And- and I really needed to delete a voicemail I left!” _

_ He glared at her coldly. “If you cared, you would’ve asked. This- this isn’t caring! This is control!” _

Ohcrap Ohcrap Ohcrap he hated her and thought she was horrible and she knew she shouldn’t have done it and OH CRAP.

She was gonna spend the rest of her life in jail and she’d never get to see him again and then he’d go off and marry CHLOE!

THIS WAS A DISASTER!

_ “I don’t want you near me. You talk to me again, and I’ll get a restraining order.” _

_ He walked off, not looking back. Marinette collapsed to the ground, sobbing. _

He didn’t want to be around her. Didn’t want to see her again. She’d hurt him that badly.

Oh god, how would she and Chat-

Wait. What was that about Chat?

There was something… something she couldn’t quite remember. Something important.

What did Chat have to do with Adrien?

And why did she feel like something was ‘off’ about this?

_ Transforming, she left for patrol. _

_ Chat met up with her soon afterwards. _

_ “So NOW you want to meet?” _

_ He seemed downcast and frustrated. _

_ She wasn’t in the mood to put up with his whining today. He was just supposed to do what he was told, the useless idiot. _

Wait, WHAT?! Ok, so Chat could sometimes be pouty temporarily, get into a bad mood, same as anyone else, and yeah it could be annoying, but…

She could never think he was useless, and he certainly wasn’t an idiot. (Even if she teased him like that sometimes).

...Maybe she should let up on that a little, if it was infecting her thoughts.

_ “Don’t talk back to me like that, Chat. I’m in charge. You just follow my orders.” _

What the hell?!

Chat might usually follow her orders, and she could be sharp with him sometimes when annoyed, but this… this wasn’t just being playful or frustrated. She sounded actually mean.

She hadn’t wanted to say that, why did it slip out?!

_ “You always treat me like this. Like your lackey. Well I’m sick of it! You won’t let me in on anything, you just keep me in the dark! You won’t tell me who Carapace and Rena Rouge are, it took me asking you repeatedly before Master Fu came over and filled me in at all, and even HE only ever talked to me once! You just feed me crumbs of information, doling them out like I’m a pet who needs a morsel, but never more than the bare minimum! And you still haven’t told me why you thought Gabriel could be Hawkmoth. Because you get all the knowledge, all the power, and I’m just supposed to do what you say and shut up, right?!” _

This… NO!

Is this really how he felt?

She remembered him getting upset sometimes when she held back secrets, and… honestly, she couldn’t really blame him. She’d be frustrated if she was in that position as well.

He- he wanted to break up their partnership, their friendship?

She never meant to hurt him. And she didn’t want to lose him. He meant too much to her!

She had to tell him that. She had to let him know. She had to FIX THIS.

_ “You dare TREAT ME LIKE THIS?!” she screeched, incensed. That mangy little cat really didn’t realize who was in charge here. If she didn’t want to share with him, that was entirely her prerogative. He only deserved to know what she chose for him to know, nothing more. _

SHE DID NOT CHOOSE TO SAY THAT. SHE WOULD NEVER THINK THAT.

This… This was WRONG.

She might’ve kept things secret that… actually, why HADN’T she told Chat about the Miraculous Grimoire? She didn’t need to tell him about Master Fu, she could’ve just said she found Adrien with the book and found out he got it from his father’s safe!

So why hadn’t she?

…She’d have to ponder that more later. For now, she had a bigger problem on her hands.

Why couldn’t she say what she wanted to say? Why were these thoughts going through her head?

_ “Yeah. I dare. I can’t believe I ever thought I liked you. We might be coworkers, but friends? Not anymore. If we ever were.” _

_ She sneered at him. “Go on and scurry off then. You wouldn’t last a day without me holding your hand. Not like I need you anyway.” _

SHE NEEDED HIM.

She would NEVER say these things. Ever. Chat was her best friend! The thought of losing him… the times she HAD lost him, even if only temporarily… they made her heart ache!

This… This wasn’t her.

THIS. WAS. NOT. HER.

The world shattered.


	2. Chapter 2

_“We’re meant to be together Milady, can’t you see that?” he hissed. He loved her. He wanted her. She belonged to him._

_Why couldn’t she accept the inevitable?_

_“I already TOLD you, I don’t want to be with you!”_

_Ladybug glared back, but a twinge of fear showed in her eyes._

Ladybug… Ladybug’s afraid? Afraid of me? She shouldn’t be, this isn’t right, need to back off and find out what’s causing-

_Good. She was beginning to see her place. That she belonged with him, belonged UNDER him, that he had the power._

_He crept closer to her. She backed away. “Oh, but you will. We’d be purrrrrfect together,” he crooned._

Wha- what? What- what WAS this? Why was he thinking this? Why were these thoughts running through his head? This… he felt slimy just hearing his voice.

And Ladybug – she still looked scared. He was beginning to think she had good reason to be.

_He lunged forwards, grabbing her hand. She punched him._

_Oh, it was ON._

WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON! THIS WASN’T RIGHT.

He’d… he’d NEVER do this.

Maybe… maybe he’d said some stuff kinda like that before. About how they belonged together. He'd certainly dreamt of it enough, believed fervently that she was the one for him, that she’d change her mind.

But this aggressiveness? NO. He NEVER wanted to hurt her. Annoy her, maybe, but NEVER scare her.

And… and she’d never BEEN scared of him. Been annoyed, yes, been sad for sure, but never scared.

She knew she could trust him. And he knew he could trust her.

So what was this?

_“I’ve put up with your harassment long enough, you sick freak!” she yelled. “Master Fu should never have chosen you in the first place. I’m gonna correct his mistake. Time to give me your Miraculous!”_

A nightmare. It had to be! This Ladybug was just like that Nightmare Ladybug from when they fought Sandboy!

Wake up, wake up, wake UP.

_She tied him up in her yo-yo. Struggling against his bonds, he watched in fear as she approached him, a slow smirk spreading over her face._

_“CATACLYSM!”_

_She stopped short. “Fine. I can wait five minutes.”_

_“You wouldn’t dare. You NEED me!”_

_She scoffed. “You’re just a useless idiot who distracts me with your slobbering over me and your jokes! You never take anything seriously, YOU’RE the cause of every distraction and delay in defeating akumas, the deaths and injuries of innocent people are all because of you! That’s why Paris hates you and loves me, because they can see what a horrible person you are, that you’re not doing your job, that you’re holding Paris hostage and causing deaths because of your goofing around!”_

This wasn’t… he knew this wasn’t real.

But some of the things she was saying, about goofing around, about only being a distraction-

Did she need him in reality?

Did she even want him, truly?

And his goofing around – sometimes she was playful back, making a joke or two.

But sometimes she didn’t. Sometimes she told him to focus.

What if… what if some of the things she was saying were true?

He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t thought of some of it before. Of not being as useful as Ladybug. Of people not caring if he was gone, of only tolerating him.

Though for it to be because of his jokes…

She didn’t always seem to like them. Did it go beyond that?

Holding Paris hostage though. He didn’t- he didn’t understand that. What was she even talking about?

_The time ticked by seemingly in a flash and extremely slowly, in an interminable unending purgatory. At last, his ring beeped the final time._

_With a flash, Adrien Agreste was revealed._

_Plagg spiraled out of the ring and made a beeline for Ladybug. “Please take me and get me away from this horrible boy, the Guardian made a terrible choice!”_

Even PLAGG had turned against him in this nightmare? Plagg… Plagg was one of the people in his life he trusted the most. Who’d been there for him since he first received the Miraculous. When he’d thought of quitting, Plagg was the one who’d talked him out of it, who’d showed that he cared about Adrien as a person, not just as a wielder.

He’d even had a talk with Fu (which he refused to disclose the details of) that had led to Fu talking to Adrien on a more regular basis. It was nice to have an adult to consult about stuff. He loved his friends and his kwami, but sometimes he needed someone to ask for advice and to just vent to who wasn’t his own age. Who was older, more experienced. He hadn’t really had that since his mother left his life. He certainly couldn’t talk to his father, and Nathalie and the Gorilla… they weren’t exactly good at social advice. Especially since Nathalie often just concentrated on what his father wanted, and Gorilla didn’t really speak.

He just wanted this to be over. He wanted to wake up, see Plagg, and hug him and tell him how much he cared for him, and go see his girlfriend and just… just try to put this nightmare out of his mind.

_“So it’s you,” Ladybug stated, staring down at him impassively. “I should’ve known. I can’t believe I ever liked you. That I ever fooled myself into thinking you were worth bothering with. You’re scum of the earth, Adrien Agreste. You won’t even stand up to a lying bully in your own class as one of your ‘friends’ – as if you even know what that word means- is mercilessly beaten and has her property destroyed. You just want her to take it, don’t you? Just want her to roll over and take anything that happens to her. Because that’s what you’re into, isn’t it? Having everyone just accept anything that’s done to them, that YOU do to them._

_Well GUESS WHAT. She hates you now. Has for awhile. You refused to defend her, refused to publicly out Lila and try to destroy her life and the lives of everyone who’s hurt Marinette so badly._

_And I’m going to make sure everyone knows it.”_

THIS. WAS. NOT. RIGHT.

He- he could be passive. He knew that. He didn’t like rocking the boat too much, and only tried to fight if it would lead to a better outcome.

But not doing anything as Marinette was BEATEN?

NEVER.

They were partners, they protected each other!

He would give his life for her. He HAD given his life for her.

It was just a nightmare.

The world shattered.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Alya glared at Marinette. She’d thought she was a decent person, but she’d shown her true colors once Lila’d arrived. Constantly picking on her, stealing her design ideas, and having the GALL to accuse Lila of lying, of being the thief. She’d always known Marinette was jealous, but daring to hurt Lila, daring to make false accusations towards her just because she couldn’t stand how special and amazing Lila was? How she’d been spending more time with Adrien? _

Wait… something here didn’t seem right… did she really hate Marinette that much? She was her best friend…

_ Stomping over to her, she saw Marinette shrink down in her seat, as if afraid. Or ashamed. Which she should be. She wouldn’t even ADMIT to lying about Lila, much less get down on her hands and knees and apologize. _

She didn’t want to see Marinette so scared. So small. It was WRONG. Why- why was she doing this? She didn’t understand!

_ “Stealing another design from Lila?” she snarled, taking pleasure in the way Marinette flinched back. Good. She knew who was in charge here. And what the price for her continued INSOLENCE was. _

_ Smirking, she grabbed Marinette’s notebook out of her hands. Marinette frantically tried to grab it back, but Alya shoved her against the wall. Some of their classmates grabbed the notebook as it fell to the ground. _

WHAT.

THIS WASN’T RIGHT THIS WASN’T RIGHT THIS WASN’T RIGHT.

She’d NEVER… NEVER do this.

She… she wasn’t VIOLENT. Even when Chloe got her suspended for merely taking a photo of her open locker, the MOST she did was stalk off. She would NEVER threaten her physically like that.

So why… why couldn’t she stop herself?! And why were these thoughts that WEREN’T HERS going through her head. WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING.

_ Marinette struggled against her hold, but Alya was too strong. “Just say it, Marinette. Admit that Lila was right. That you’ve just been going after her for the attention. That you’re just jealous. And stop copying her designs. Just admit how horrible you’ve been and never make a move against Lila again, and this can all be over.” _

_ Tears flowed down Marinette’s face. “I- I- I can’t. She’s- she’s the one who stole it. And- and you’re just as bad!” _

_ Oh, so now Marinette was trying to turn the tables on HER? Make HER look like the bad guy? _

_ Fine. She’d BE the bad guy. _

_ “Hey Nino? Tear out the most recent page of the sketchbook, would ya? We can give that back to Lila. As for the rest of it… I think it’s time to teach this bitch a lesson.” _

That sketchbook was Marinette’s pride and joy. This… this was… NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

De-destroying something she’d poured her heart and soul into? That was almost as bad – maybe even worse – than the assault!

It would be like someone destroying the Ladyblog, but with less chance of recovery.

THESE WEREN’T HER THOUGHTS OR ACTIONS.

SO WHY WAS HER BODY DOING THIS, WHY WAS HER MOUTH SPEAKING THESE WORDS, WHY WERE THESE THOUGHTS RUNNING THROUGH HER HEAD.

_ Expressionless, Nino put the sketchbook on the ground, opened the water bottle he’d stored in his backpack. _

_ And began to pour. _

_ “No… please… PLEASE!” Marinette begged, struggling and thrashing. _

_ Alya took pleasure in the way the light drained from her eyes as she watched all her hard work be ruined before her eyes. _

THIS. WASN’T. HER.

It was NOT real, she’d NEVER do this, would NEVER even think of this.

Something… something had taken over her body, some sick puppeteer.

Taken over the bodies and minds of her friends.

AND NO ONE ELSE REALIZED ANYTHING WAS WRONG.

_ Marinette kicked her. _

_ IT WAS ON. _

_ Roughly she grabbed Marinette by her hair, yanking her to the ground. _

_ “You want to fight?” she hissed as Marinette attempted to get to her feet. “Then let’s fight.” _

_ Alya raised her fist- _

**NO**

The world shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... unlike with the other two, there's nothing for Alya to learn from this kind of salt. The salt that might have some semblance of a point, I already had her learn those points in Turning Points with finding out that Lila's a liar and to look more deeply into Marinette's concerns instead of brushing them off, and realizing in Divergent Points-Reflekdoll that sometimes she can get so focused on one thing she gets tunnel vision and can brush past others concerns.
> 
> The violence and malice in her salt? That's manufactured. I don't even know where the violence, the desire to cause physical harm comes from. She's never physically threatened anyone, yet it keeps popping up. No way she'd abide by that! She'd be pretty devastated at any suggestion she'd hurt her friends. She cares for them a lot. Not saying she's always perfect at it - no one is - but she tries to help as best she knows how. She's an awesome friend and an awesome person overall.
> 
> At this point I just want to hug and protect her from all the salt. It's kinda scary to see, especially since she doesn't get a lot of good depictions in focus to help balance out the ones where she's worse than Hawkmoth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This was actually the first chapter I wrote for this story. The first four chapters are independent of each other, so their order is pretty arbitrary.
> 
> Nino doesn't really get salt that's specific to him so much, unlike Marinette, Adrien, and Alya - it's mostly folded into regular class salt. When he does get focus, there seems to be a good chance of him getting a redemption, which is the Doylist reason why this chapter is different from previous ones.

“You’re just jealous! Seriously Marinette, I thought you were a decent person, but my new best friend Lila’s shown me the TRUTH.”

Nino blinked, looking around.

His classmates were all ringed around Lila. Not too unusual, though that had gone down after the first week Lila’d been back – the novelty of having her around wore off, and while his classmates found her stories interesting (though they thought they were real rather than fictional), they drifted away from her after that. She just never really connected with them, though everyone was still friendly with her (except for their own little group of course, and Chloe, because she barely got along with anyone).

Then Nino processed Alya’s words.

_What the hell?_

Was this some new plan to take down Lila? They’d discussed some ideas, but none had been very realistic (as satisfying as just posting a list of every lie she’d told and documentation on the truth would be, it’d be unlikely to actually get her in much trouble, and she could cry crocodile tears and claim they were out to get her – which wasn’t totally a lie.)

Alya tended to be rather impulsive and liked to improvise, but something like this? He’d expect at least a hint of a plan!

Was she seriously expecting anyone to buy this?! That she’d just turn around and throw Marinette to the curb in favor of LILA?

“You’re such a BULLY Marinette!”

“Going after poor, poor Lila? How much do you need to hurt her before you’re satisfied?”

“She only asked that you do a few little things for her! That’s what friends do! But you’re not a very good friend, are you?”

Nino reared back, staring at his “friends”. All of them glared at Marinette.

This… something didn’t seem right. Lila’d ensnared some of them before, sure, but to the extent that she’d convinced them that Marinette’s a bully? That she was a bad, malicious person?

They’d been afraid of Lila trying something since she’d made her threat, but if anything, she’d just… faded away into the background.

Maybe she’d been doing something behind the scenes? Some sort of long con that’d slowly eroded their trust in Marinette in ways they hadn’t even noticed?

But that didn’t explain Alya. Or…

He looked at Adrien. Normally he’d at least be trying to defuse the situation, calm everyone down, restore rationality.

But he was glaring along with the others, looking vaguely disappointed. “I expected better from you, Marinette. I thought you were one of the kindest, most selfless people I know. I guess I was wrong.”

Wait, WHAT?

Ok, no.

This wasn’t just some people being tricked and manipulated, or going along with a plan. His bro was an ok actor, but NOT when it came to his feelings towards Marinette. The only reason their classmates hadn’t caught on that he and Marinette were dating was that he’d been giving Marinette those lovesick kitty eyes for awhile, long before he found out she was Ladybug. Though Nino had a feeling that at least a few of them heavily suspected – notably, they’d mostly stopped pushing Marinette to confess to Adrien, or steering her towards Luka.

(At least according to Alya. He wasn’t privy to most of the girl squad meetings, but it’s not like they were these big secrets.)

Adrien couldn’t fake anger and disappointment THAT well – not towards Marinette. Especially not with her looking so upset and withdrawn.

Which meant he was serious.

But… HOW?

It almost sounded like a sick parody of his initial advice to Alya when she tried to confront Lila for the second time, if someone had plugged their ears and only saw “Adrien says something” and “Alya backs down”.

He hadn’t wanted her to confront Lila straight-up because even if exposing her lie WORKED – and that was a big if – Lila would still probably be in their class, since simply telling a few lies to make herself sound better wasn’t exactly enough to expel her over, and while her threats to Marinette and Alya MIGHT be enough to get her suspended at least, they didn’t have any proof of those threats, so it was just their word against Lila’s. Not good enough on its own. Especially with Marinette and Alya being close friends. It would be easy to believe that they’d lie for each other.

And if they couldn’t actually get rid of her, or make her powerless to the point that she wasn’t a threat anymore… well, cornered animals tended to bite hardest, plus they’d already experienced that Lila could hold one HELL of a grudge.

Maybe if he didn’t know that Lila’d threatened Marinette and Alya, maybe if he just thought that Lila was a liar, but had no outright malicious intentions and hadn’t deliberately caused harm, maybe then he could see Adrien disapproving of Marinette going after Lila for her lies, if he didn’t know that it wasn’t JUST her not liking Lila being a liar.

But even then, Adrien mostly just tried to defuse situations, keep them from escalating out of control, tried to minimize people getting hurt. Considering the environment he’d grown up in, where conflict escalation often meant Gabriel yelling at Adrien and cutting him off from social contact and the things he enjoyed, where any wrong move could lead to the loss of everything and everyone he valued, he’d had to get good at defusing conflict.

He wouldn’t join in on dogpiling Marinette. He didn’t even approve of that with CHLOE and LILA. He might try to redirect everyone somewhere else and then try to find a more long-term way of defusing the conflict behind the scenes with as little damage to anyone as possible, but THIS? Nuh uh.

Something was very, very wrong here.

Marinette walked away, ignoring the jeers from the rest of the class, her face impassive.

Nino hurried after her. Maybe she knew what was going on. Maybe she had a plan.

At the very least, she was the only one who hadn’t been proven to be caught up in whatever this… this messed up THING was.

She ducked into an empty classroom and closed the door, giving him an appraising look.

“So. You wised up?”

He frowned. “Wised up to what? I know everyone’s acting really weird, especially around Lila. You know what’s going on?”

“Oh, I know what’s going on.”

He didn’t like the glint in Marinette’s eyes, the ire in her voice.

“’What’s going on’ is I finally realized that it’s not worth being friends with these people. For what that ‘friendship’ is worth. That I slave away for them, make object after object at their request, pouring hours and hours of my life, my money, my very SOUL into these ‘commissions’, and for what? To be ignored, to be mocked? For them to EXPECT me to do their bidding, to give them ‘gifts’, and expect to not have the barest glimmer of loyalty? They just take. And take. And TAKE.”

….What?

(Nino was getting very tired of that thought).

(He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the last time he’d have that reaction though.)

Marinette made things for others sometimes – that was true. But it wasn’t that common!

She’d made a banner for that race Kim and Alix had a few months ago, and he’d heard that she’d fixed up Mylene’s dad’s hat for him which he’d apparently been quite thrilled with when he picked it up from her. But that was months ago as well.

But aside from that?

She’d done some commissions for Jagged Stone. Those tended to be pretty stressful, with him being such a big name. She’d worried about not making something up to his standards before and poured hours into trying to produce the perfect design. He could see that maybe getting overwhelming, but she didn’t seem to be talking about that. She specifically singled out their classmates.

Hmm… the only other thing he’d heard about recently…

“Has Kitty Section been putting you under that much pressure? I know designing and creating those costumes for them must be a lot of work, but I’m sure that everyone-“

Oh yeah, the entire class seemed to be under a mass delusion of some sort, or maybe flat-out mind control that made them think Marinette was worse than even CHLOE.

“Ok, so LUKA at least would probably back off. He’s seemed pretty nice and chill from what I’ve seen, I doubt he wants you to be under any sort of stress. Just tell him how you feel and I’m sure he’ll back off.”

She stared at him like he was insane. “Kitty Section…? Kitty Section’s fine! Luka would never do anything to put me through the slightest bit of distress! He soothes the wounds my so-called ‘friends’ have inflicted on me! In fact… he seemed up to helping me with some of my plans.”

Nino slowly backed away.

Whatever this… THING was, Marinette seemed to be affected too.

But he needed more info first.

“Then what’re you talking about?”

How deep did this rabbit hole go?

“The endless outfits I’ve created for everyone! Tailoring everything to their specifications! Repairing bags and purses and hats and stuffed animals! And do they show me any gratitude? None! They just take it and shame me if I try to say I’m too busy! And they expect me to do it for free!”

Yeah, he was pretty sure that hadn’t happened.

Well… not like that at least.

He vaguely remembered Sabrina nicely requesting Marinette to stitch together a teddy bear she’d assumed was Chloe’s, but people constantly ragging on her to make or repair or modify things for them? Not so much.

Just… stuff that’d actually happened being exaggerated and distorted with some flat-out made-up stuff being thrown in, until it became something else. Something malevolent. Something toxic.

It was a lot like with Adrien’s chastising Marinette earlier.

And… even that bit with Alya, actually.

Alya’d fallen for Lila’s lies when she first came to the school, and continued thinking she was generally truthful until she’d had the same evidence Marinette had that Lila was a liar – that she’d lied about being Ladybug’s best friend. She’d even thought that Marinette might have it out for Lila in particular because she was jealous of her getting close to Adrien.

But this being had distorted and exaggerated those actions and beliefs into her kicking Marinette to the curb entirely and practically worshipping Lila.

“Oh… but they’ll see. They’ll learn what happens when you push Marinette Dupain-Cheng too far!”

Nino quickly scanned for exits. Unfortunately Marinette was blocking the door… maybe the windows? They were on the second story though, and he’d have to break the glass. He’d have to transform into Carapace to escape that way.

…Maybe as a last resort.

He tried to fiddle with the Turtle bracelet.

And met bare skin.

IT WASN’T THERE.

Ooooooh crap.

“All those school trips? The HOURS I spent organizing them, setting up accommodations, arranging funding? Well they’d better hope that Lila’s as competent as they think she is, because she can be in charge of aaaaaaall of that. I’ll just cancel everything I’d planned and let HER handle it from scratch! Oh, and she can be the one who appeals to the school board for funding, gets everyone the best equipment in the school, gets them to approve grants! Let’s see whether the awesome and stupendously amazing Lila Rossi is anywhere near as competent as I am.”

Ok, so none of that was remotely feasible. Marinette was Class Representative, not a member of the school board or a teacher. Also, she was FREAKING FOURTEEN. He was pretty sure there’d be liability issues with her making arrangements for field trips. And she didn’t have much of a say in school funding; she could let the teacher know of any problems she’d encountered that Ms. Bustier could then try to fix, or ask a higher authority for help fixing, but appealing to the school board directly? Not so much.

“Oh, they’ll pay… they’ll PAY.”

Her eyes took on a crazed look as an insane smile spread across her face.

“Alya? She wants me to CHECK MY SOURCES? I’ll show her _checking sources_. She didn’t bother verifying that interview with Lila months ago, and I’m sure she’s posted more gossip from her wonderful and amazing friend Lila since then. I’ll just let slip to Nadja that the Ladyblog isn’t a completely reliable source, and she can turn the spotlight so the rest of the media and all of Paris can EAT HER ALIVE. She wants to be an investigative journalist? TOUGH LUCK. No one’ll be willing to hire her or train her, not when she posted some unsubstantiated statements when she was fourteen! This’ll follow her for the rest of her life, and she’ll DESERVE IT.”

Nino was pretty sure that wasn’t true, but reality had pretty clearly left the building awhile ago.

“Oh, and then there’s Adrien. Sweet, naïve little Adrien. Adrien who knows Lila’s a liar, but isn’t willing to out her for me! Who has the nerve – THE NERVE! – to advise on NOT trying to publicly humiliate and tear Lila down like the piece of garbage she is. To be willing to just let her lie, and not yell at her and do everything in his power to defend me against her vicious attack… I can’t believe I was so much of an IDIOT as to ever care for him.

He wants to take the high road? To sit passively by and not interfere? Let’s see how he likes it when Lila’s constantly around him, touching him and hanging off him. He wants to be passive? I’ll just suggest another seating rearrangement before I resign as class representative to place them next to each other! I know how much difficulty he has making himself shove her off. Oooh… but I can do MORE. Wonder how he’d like a rumor that he’s dating Lila? I’m sure she’d be all over it. And if that spineless pussy BITCH can’t stand up for me, and he can’t stand up for himself either… she might even get to kiss him and date him without him being able to say no! He wants to not make waves? He can just stand still and TAKE IT like a _good little toy_.”

“WHAT?!”

This… this being wearing Marinette’s skin (this was not Marinette, _this was very much not Marinette_ ) took a step towards him.

He reared back, putting as much space as possible between him and the entity.

He really, REALLY wished he had Wayzz right now.

She breathed harder, her eyes bugging out. “You on my side? Are you going to grovel for forgiveness? Maybe I’ll spare you if you get down on your knees and repent for ever believing that BITCH Lila and for not doing more to stop her. Or… maybe I won’t. Depends on how I feel, and if you’re willing to help me drag everyone else into a pit of torment for all the PAIN AND SUFFERING they’ve put me through. It’s too late for Adrien – he’s known for awhile and hasn’t fought her or the rest of the class tooth and nail to defend me – but I might, just possibly, give you a shot at redemption.”

“What have you done with Marinette?!”

Because this being wasn’t just some deluded or brain-washed Marinette. Her destruction of everything Marinette was, every semblance of her self was too warped beyond recognition. At most, some other being might be puppeting her body around.

He hoped not. He already wanted to throw up just from her description of what she wanted to do with Adrien. And if she was aware of what this being was making her say…

GOD he hoped she wasn’t conscious in there.

“Oh, I’m still Marinette. I’m just not the sweet little SLAVE you were so fond of. And I can go very, very low. I wonder… all those ‘gifts’ I gave out over the years? How much do you think they were worth? Because I’ll bet it was hundreds of euros. Time for everyone to PAY UP! Ooh, or those bake sales my parents held to raise funds for the school? What if they suddenly started demanding payment for them? Maybe then you and the others would appreciate how much I’ve done for you, how I’ve carried this school on my back when everything I’ve graciously given out of the goodness of my heart is RIPPED AWAY from you all!”

Most of that had never happened and he was pretty sure that demanding repayment for gifts already given wasn’t remotely feasible, but logic had clearly looked around, seen this insanity, and went back to sleep for six more weeks, so he wasn’t going to expect a little thing like THAT to stop this being.

He set his jaw. “You aren’t Marinette. Not really. And those people out there weren’t my friends. Not in their right minds anyway. This isn’t right. This isn’t true. This doesn’t even make sense!”

The being glared at him. He shuddered, but didn’t break eye contact.

She lunged.

He dodged.

The world shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The disproportionate retribution in saltfics is just insane. There's this attitude that if someone does something "wrong" (which a lot of times is mostly manufactured for the fic's purposes in the first place), that then gives moral permission to heap any punishment back on the "bully", no matter HOW severe, and have that not only be permissible, but morally righteous. 
> 
> Because once you have something to label a person as being "bad" for, even if it's relatively small... well. You can't just let that bad thing go unpunished, can you? They need to learn a lesson, don't they? And anyone who joins in is affirming that they too know what's right and is joining the crusade.
> 
> It tends to lead to mob mentality and harassment disguised under a morally right veneer.
> 
> It's also useful for redirection. If someone does something horribly wrong, like murder or physical abuse, but the other person can be painted as being bad somehow, even if it's just something like petty theft, it can be used to say "See? They're awful too! Therefore this response is justified."
> 
> Disproportionate retribution is EXTREMELY dangerous all around.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette fell to the ground in a heap. She shook her head, trying to clear it.

WAIT.

SHE SHOOK HER HEAD.

SHE COULD CONTROL HERSELF AGAIN.

What had even been up with that?

She looked around. Dread pooled in her stomach.

Surrounding her were gleaming white walls with a white floor and ceiling. In front of her was a tall, ornate door.

She’d never been here before.

She didn’t know how she got here.

Last she remembered…

_ She and Adrien happily devoured their Sweetheart ice creams themed after each other, Alya and Nino doing the same on the other side of the picnic blanket. They still needed to keep their dating a secret, but well… there was no fooling Andre. When Marinette had asked for ice cream for herself and a friend, he beamed, gave her a wink, and handed over the two ice creams. _

_ Considering the dark chocolate cat ears on hers, she wondered just how deep Andre’s magical powers went. Tikki and Fu had referenced there being other magical forces in the universe besides the Miraculous, but hadn’t gone into detail beyond that. Probably for the best. Between fighting akumas and fighting homework, along with her hobbies, she didn’t really have the time nor mental capacity to learn much about magic. _

_ Thankfully, Fu had decided to primarily train Nino as a Guardian candidate, though he still filled Marinette (as well as Adrien and even Alya now) on some of the more immediate need-to-know stuff, like the capabilities of each of the Miraculous, in case one of them needed to hand them out or use them in an emergency. _

_ She hadn’t realized what a nagging fear of being pushed into Guardianship she’d had until that weight was lifted. Especially since giving UP being Guardian, apparently often meant losing memories related to the Miraculous – even if only tangentially related. There was a way to pass on the role WITHOUT losing memories, but Fu hadn’t been told what it was before the Order was devoured. _

_ With the Order now restored, they wanted to drop by at some point. Well… she, Adrien, Alya, and Nino did at any rate. Fu still carried a lot of guilt about what happened all those years ago. Even if the temple, monks, and Miraculous were restored, those years were gone. Everyone in the temple would have to adjust to a world nearly two hundred years ahead of what they were used to. _

_ He said he’d still go, but he clearly felt some reservations about it. She wished she could help, but… well, beyond just being there to support him, she didn’t know what else she could do. _

_ To carry that level of guilt for so long… she couldn’t even imagine. _

_ At least if Fu felt like he couldn’t go at the last minute, technically he wasn’t required. While she highly doubted that Tibetan monks from the 1800s would know French, it was highly likely that at least a few of them would be fluent in Mandarin Chinese, so Adrien could translate. Or the kwamis could if need be (though they’d rather not detransform right away, so they were a definite second-place option). _

_ She smiled warmly as she took another lick of her ice cream. _

_ …Why did it taste like salt? _

_ Frowning, she looked at her friends, ready to ask them if their ice creams had any weird flavors she hadn’t remembered Andre mentioning. _

_ But they weren’t looking at her, or even each other. _

_ But instead overhead and a bit behind her. _

_ She just had time to turn around before the sparkling white particles enveloped the four of them. _

__

Ok, so that was weird.

Maybe it was an akuma or some of that other magic Tikki’d alluded to.

Wait, Tikki!

Her hands flew to her ears.

THE EARRINGS WERE GONE.

Oh CRAP.

She really hoped this was a non-akuma. If Hawkmoth got her and Chat’s Miraculous…

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

Marinette whipped around.

Adrien, Alya, and Nino were on the ground, looking like they’d arrived much the way she had.

Alya fidgeted, then collapsed into tears, scooting away from everyone else looking terrified.

Adrien seemed to be in slightly better shape… but only slightly. A look of fear passed over his face when he saw Marinette but it was quickly quelled, though she could still see a spark of nervousness in his eyes. He didn’t seem to have any negative reaction to Nino and Alya at least.

As for Nino, he appeared to be in the best shape. He looked calculating, frowning at everyone and ready to move at a moment’s notice, but he didn’t seem like he’d collapse at the slightest provocation.

What had HAPPENED to her friends?

“Alya?” she called. Alya seemed to be in the worst state, so best to start with her first.

“St-stay away!” Alya scooted back, shaking her head. “I don’t know when that- that THING will take over me again! I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t want to hurt anyone, so wh-why, why-!?”

Her voice trailed off into muffled sobs as she curled into a ball.

Hesitantly, she crawled over to her. Nino and Adrien watched her suspiciously, as if afraid Marinette would attack her.

As they took in her expression, the looks softened.

“You’re the real Marinette, aren’t you? Not- not an evil doppelganger?“ Adrien asked hopefully.

Evil doppelganger?

Had they been trapped the way she’d been?

“It’s really me,” she confirmed, inching closer to Alya. Alya looked up briefly, but didn’t flinch away. “What happened to everyone?”

Haltingly they took turns telling their stories. Alya went last, pausing several times while telling it, her voice devolving into sobs. Not that Adrien or Marinette had managed to get through their stories without needing to take a minute.

Only Nino’d been able to get through his without pause, likely because he hadn’t experienced the same sort of thing the others had. He seemed less traumatized, and more mad.

Alya had calmed down slightly since they’d started. Whatever the thing that’d made each of them be horrible was (well, aside from Nino apparently), it seemed to have left them for the moment.

Which meant it was probably time to bring up MORE bad news.

“…You guys don’t happen to be hiding your Miraculous, do you?”

Or Nino could bring it up. Come to think of it, he HAD glanced at his wrists a few times…

Terror flashed through Adrien’s and Alya’s eyes as they frantically checked their Miraculous’s usual resting spots, coming up empty.

“He’s- he’s gone,” Adrien murmured, staring off into the distance.

“Trixx too!” Alya cried, starting to hyperventilate. Marinette didn’t blame her. She’d only kept it together this long by slipping into ‘crisis mode’, and with how much more intense Alya’s nightmare was over everyone else’s (though she had a feeling Adrien may have been downplaying his own nightmare), she was surprised she was as focused and alert as she was.

She herself had to keep shoving Tikki out of her mind – something she hated doing, but she’d be no good to Tikki if she was collapsed on the ground having a panic attack, nor any good to the others. She had to remain strong.

“Ok so, I know this looks bad. We’re stuck in a blank white room placed by a mysterious force that can hijack our bodies, with no clue how long we’ve been here, how long we’re GOING to be here, where we are, how to get out, how to get food and water so we don’t DIE, where our kwamis are, whether whatever took them  _ has put them in a nightmare of their own or rewritten reality or is destroying the world and our family and friends and we can’t do anything about it and maybe they’re already gone and-! _ ”

Pressure enveloped her on all sides.

Oh.

Maybe she wasn’t quite as together and calm as she thought.

But… maybe she didn’t need to be.

“We’re here,” Adrien told her, arm wrapped around her. “Whatever’s going on, we’ll figure it out together.”

“I’ve got you, girl,” Alya said

They all pressed up against her – though she noticed that Alya kept her arms mostly behind the two boys, squishing them all together in a group hug but keeping herself from being in a position where her hands could easily reach her.

She really, REALLY wanted to punch who or whatever force made Alya afraid that her own BODY would rebel against her and make her hurt her. She had a feeling that Alya wouldn’t be able to force herself to do so, considering the violence she’d been forced into committing – but she herself had no such qualms. Though Nino might beat her to the punch.

“The four of us are a team, dude. We’re not going to let some messed-up fake worlds stop us.”

She was so very glad Nino hadn’t had to go through the same things they had – what he went through was bad, but less outright traumatizing, and they NEEDED someone who was slightly more emotionally stable right now. Slightly.

The four of them just hugged for a moment, feeling the confirmation that yes, they were all here, they were all alive.

But after a few minutes they needed to, regrettably, break apart slightly and talk more about what’d just happened – though they didn’t separate completely, and continued to sit cuddled up against each other.

“Maybe if we look more deeply into what happened in our nightmare worlds we can figure out what’s going on?” Marinette suggested. “Plus… well, probably best to talk it out some more. I don’t think we’ll be able to distract ourselves from them – not with still being trapped in whatever-this-is – so best to deal with it now, before we have to move on.”

The others nodded, glancing quickly at the looming door before looking away.

Alya fidgeted, shuddering slightly. “The- the level of violence and hatred running through that… that mind prison I was trapped in, in mine… I just… it was so toxic and foreign and I was just along for the ride and  _ couldn’t stop _ and… and…!”

She made choking noises, unable to force more words out.

Marinette cuddled closer to Alya, Adrien and Nino joining her, giving silent encouragement.

A moment later, Alya’d calmed down enough to continue. “I- I felt how much I HATED you, Marinette. How much I just wanted to hurt you. I know it wasn’t me, wasn’t my emotions, but I still… they were still running through my brain, I still felt them, even though they didn’t belong to me. And I still felt that Marinette’s struggling and saw her terror. When I close my eyes I still see her looking back at me, and I’m terrified that at any moment, that thing will return, and you’ll look at me the same way.”

Marinette took Alya’s hand, looking her intensely in the eyes. They were red and shiny with tears. “If that thing returns… Alya, I’d NEVER look at you that way. Because I KNOW you. I KNOW you’d never do that. I’d never for a second think you were acting of your own free will. I’d work to free you, same as when you were akumatized.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “And… and I do have an idea at least of how you feel, even if mine wasn’t as bad. How it feels to have some other toxic thoughts running through your head that don’t belong to you, to say things you’d never say. It’s NOT YOUR FAULT. It wasn’t you, and what happened, what thoughts ran through your head, what whatever that was used your body to do – it says NOTHING about you as a person.”

Alya gave her a small smile, sniffling a little. “Th-thanks, girl. I needed that.”

Looking at Adrien’s shiny eyes and noticing the wetness around her own, Alya wasn’t the only one who needed to hear that.

She just hoped none of them had to go through that again. Thinking of how badly Alya got it, and the versions of herself that Adrien and Nino met… it could’ve been MUCH worse. If she’d been transported into that version Nino met especially… well she doubted she’d be in much better condition than Alya was now. Nino hadn’t quite been able to force himself to repeat everything that Not-Marinette had said, but the highlights he gave? Especially of what that… that entity had thought about Adrien, had wanted to happen to Adrien?

If she’d been in THAT being, she’d probably have thrown up as soon as she regained control of her own body.

They didn’t know what would happen when they went through that giant door, tried to go somewhere else. Heck, for all any of them knew, they could be thrown back into those nightmares at any minute.

…Okay maybe time to think of something else. Think and talk about something she could actually control.

“I- I wanted to talk about some things. Some things that nightmare world confronted me with. Made me realize.”

She took a moment to gather her thoughts. The nightmare in her world may have twisted both her and Adrien… but it may have had some points as well.

Locking eyes with Adrien, she continued, trying to keep her voice calm and clear. “In my nightmare world, that Adrien was horrified at how I’d assembled a schedule of his week, down to the minute without his knowledge or consent, and how I’d stolen his phone that one time and… well, I just… I needed to get that out there. Needed to let you know that I did do that. And I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have, I… I just really wanted to know where you were and what you were doing, know everything I could find out about you that I was still too nervous to ask you, and then I called you and fumbled it and called you ‘hot stuff’ and I had to get it and delete the message before you heard it and I… I panicked and used the schedule to figure out when I could steal your phone so I could delete it. When Alya was talking about me stealing phones awhile ago, when we found out each other’s secret identities? That’s one of the cases she was talking about.”

Adrien blinked. “Oh. So THAT’S why that went missing. Wait that means-“

He turned his head to look at Nino. “I was totally right, it WASN’T in my bag, I knew I wasn’t just tired! Ha!”

Turning back, he gave Marinette a fond look. She melted a little. Even after being together for a little while now, just seeing the looks he gave her turned her to mush. “Sorry about that. Nino teased me for WEEKS about how easily I lose things after that incident.

Anyway; seriously Marinette, it’s fine. I don’t mind. I would’ve just deleted it if you’d asked, but I’m not mad at you for any of that. I don’t think that’d even be possible. And I’m not sure what the problem with the schedule is?”

He didn’t see the-? Looking at his slightly tilted head and his curious expression, he genuinely didn’t seem to understand.

…Come to think of it, he was a celebrity, and it’s not like he’d ever had anything like “privacy” or “consent” taken into account so long as they conflicted with his father’s desires at all, and regular citizens often didn’t either. Being forced to wear a Chat costume for Clara’s music video, along with everything that went down when half the city chased him around after that one ad was released, showed that well enough.

Not too shocking that he didn’t see any issue with her having assembled his schedule then, or not being at all upset for her stealing his phone.

While she was glad he wasn’t angry with her, she REALLY wanted to teach him more about things like ‘boundaries’ and ‘privacy’. He was worryingly lax about such things, and she was pretty sure it was because he’d never been taught they were things he was allowed to have.

She might not be able to stop his boundaries from being violated (she’d seen how uncomfortable he looked in that selfie Wayhem took with him when they first met) or from other people invading his privacy, but she could at least make sure that she herself wasn’t one of those people.

And… maybe let him know why the schedule was slightly iffy. Give him an idea of what to look out for.

“I didn’t ask you before gathering the info for it. I didn’t have to really look for it, I just overheard what you told Nino about your schedule and tracked your comings and goings, I didn’t break into anything or follow you, to be clear, but… the reasons I had for making the schedule weren’t necessarily the greatest? Like if I’d’ve been keeping track of it so I could better coordinate with you for something or to throw you a surprise party, that would’ve been one thing, but… I used it for stealing your phone for selfish purposes instead. And even before that, I just kinda wanted to know where you were, which… yeah without letting you know about it was something I probably shouldn’t’ve done. My nightmare world may have had a point on that. 

I abused that knowledge of your life in order to do something you didn’t know about and I knew you wouldn’t have approved of. I’m glad you’re not upset but… if someone does that, you know you’re allowed to be, right? Like, you might get in trouble with your father if you express it towards him, but you’re allowed to feel that feeling. And if someone tells you that you’re not allowed to have privacy, that they have every right to snoop around your life without your knowledge, especially to do something that ends up hurting you or the people you care about… you might not be able to do much about it if Gabriel’s involved, but… it’s wrong. And I shouldn’t have been one of the people doing it in the first place.”

He looked at her thoughtfully. “I still don’t totally get it, but… thanks. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

His mouth quirked downward, and he grimaced. “About boundaries though… I was wondering about that? One of the things that I was forced to do, forced to think was about how we belonged together, and keeping on saying so after Ladybug had already said ‘no’, and… wanting it as some sort of power thing! And I know I’d never do what that thing made me do and think, as far as pressing when you’re uncomfortable and scared, wanting to control and dominate you, but… I have sometimes said some stuff like what that thing made me say. What it said. Like talking about how we belong together, which… I’ve mostly talked about that alone, but… I just want to see whether I’ve been hurting you at all.”

Ah. Yeah, she could see that. And well, his nightmare hadn’t been completely wrong… but it wasn’t right either. “I know what it’s like to have an intense crush, kitty. How much and how fervently you want and believe that you should be together. I’m not going to begrudge your feelings. You can’t control that. And I do admire how open you can be about them! That’s something I wish I was better at.

I didn’t even realize you had a crush on me, genuinely, until that rooftop dinner you set up – I thought it was just part of this gentlecat persona you present. But… well, you have occasionally pressed when you shouldn’t have. Not very hard, but hinting about maybe us getting together one day during the interview with Nadja when I was trying to shut her down wasn’t very helpful. I can see now why it didn’t register to you that Nadja was prying though, was getting too personal. I’m guessing that wasn’t too unusual by your standards?”

Adrien nodded. “Father’s been having me do more interviews for Teen magazines lately, and they can get… well, Nadja was one of the less…  _ intense _ interviewers I’ve had lately.”

Marinette winced. She’d read some of those interviews. She didn’t want to know what questions HADN’T made it to print.

“You were generally pretty good at keeping your feelings in check – and trust me, I KNOW how hard that can be – just be careful about the ways in which you show them. I’m glad you let me know you had feelings for me, but doing so more publicly like with that interview can feel like putting pressure to reciprocate. And generally speaking, saying anything that presumes that the other person will change their mind isn’t a great way to phrase things. I never felt any fear or even really uncomfortable around you, I KNOW you’d never go too far and I don’t blame you for this at all – I’m able to work through this kind of thing with my parents, and I know that until recently, you didn’t really have anyone to do that with. I just recommend talking out what to do with an adult, someone you can trust. Maybe Fu? He doesn’t have much experience in the romance department or with connecting closely to other humans though. You could always talk with my parents at least? They may be biased, but I think they’d be your best bet.

He nodded. “I will. I’ve been thinking of dropping by more anyway, if I can get away with it.”

Biting his lip, he paused, then continued. “…There was one other thing. In my nightmare world, Not-you talked about how I was useless. How I couldn’t concentrate. That I goofed around too much. How I couldn’t do my job, and that it was my fault when people got hurt.”

She did remember him talking about that earlier when he was recounting his story, come to think of it. It was remarkably similar to her own nightmare world, actually, except that the versions of herself and Chat in Adrien’s nightmare were a lot harsher and more sneering and were just plain more horrible all-around than in hers.

It wasn’t any truer in his world, than it had been in hers.

“Adrien. Chat. NO. You’re the best partner I could ever hope for. Sometimes you might joke when I need to concentrate, but… overall? I’m glad you have a sense of humor. That you help keep things light and fun. If I didn’t have someone to joke and laugh and just plain have fun with during akuma fights, I think I’d burn out. I spiral easily, and you help keep that from happening. Plus it’s not like I don’t joke back. Just try not to joke too much while I’m concentrating hard on figuring out what to do, I just don’t have the bandwidth to devote to it right then.

The other thing though? It is NOT your fault if people get hurt! Remember what I told Hawkmoth back when he was trying to blame us for the damage his akuma did? ‘Don’t reverse the roles here’. It’s HIS fault, NOT YOURS. He’s the one who sets it all up, who tries to hurt people. Don’t let someone try and deflect the blame back onto you. HE’S the real bad guy here.

And if I ever made you feel useless… I’m sorry. I would NEVER mean that. I couldn’t do this without you. Or at least… I wouldn’t want to. And I’ll tell you that as often as you need it, until you believe it.”

He gave her a small smile. “Thanks.”

The four of them sat in silence a minute as it grew increasingly uncomfortable.

“…Does anyone else have anything they need to talk through? To get off their chests?” Marinette asked hopefully.

The others just stared back at her.

Crap.

If there was nothing left to talk about, to settle…

She took a deep breath. “…I guess it’s time to see what’s on the other side of that door.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These kids love and care about each other. And realistically? YES, they sometimes have issues. YES, they sometimes do things wrong. But they're not malicious about it, and they'd talk it out. Nothing any of them have actually done is worth destroying them over.
> 
> I figure that Alya would be the worst affected by the salt towards her. Not only is it extreme, but that kind of trauma isn't something she's used to dealing with.
> 
> Considering Adrien's reactions to his father's abuse and the trauma of the time loops in Desperada, with how he at least attempts to shrug them off and generally doesn't show a ton of outward signs of how bad things are, I think that most of the trauma from the way he's salted would just get tossed on the trauma pile with everything else he's endured. It'd be bad, but he wouldn't SHOW how bad.
> 
> Plus I pulled back on the extremeness of Adrien salt. The worst of that particular variety of salt tends to have him attempt to or succeed in sexually assaulting Marinette, and that is NOT something I'm gonna cover in detail. Just no. Chapter two's rendition of that salt is as much as I'm gonna cover on that aspect of salt towards him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's based more on common themes and mindsets underpinning Adrien saltfics rather than on Adrien saltfics as such.

“AAAAH!”

*Thunk*

Ooooow.

He’d really hoped that the fall after breaking out of that nightmare world, when he and the others had teleported to that white room, would be the only time he’d be unexpectedly falling on his butt.

But apparently the main method of getting from one place to another in this… place? Whatever the heck it was, wasn’t something sensible like “going through a doorway into another room”. Nooooooo. It just had to be SPECIAL didn’t it. And apparently, that special thing was teleporting them a foot above the ground so they’d all fall if they weren’t prepared.

Which none of them were. Because who expects opening a DOOR to do that?

“Is everyone okay?”

He doubted any of them would be hurt by just a small fall like that, but… a part of him worried.

“I’m fine!”

“All good here.”

“I’m good, dude.”

Looking around, he tried to get his bearings.

Which wasn’t very hard, since they appeared to be in the middle of Paris during the day.

“…Are we home?”

Nino frowned. “I hope so, but… this seems a little too easy. And in the world I was in I was able to move around freely too, and it looked just like our regular school, so… maybe best to look around some more.”

A pedestrian passed by, looked at Adrien, and did a double-take.

His face turned stormy.

Adrien automatically braced himself, backing up slightly.  _ Oh god oh GOD what did I do wrong what will he do to my friends oh CRAP will he hurt them what will I lose- _

A firm touch on one shoulder, and someone holding his hand on the other side.

Nino edged his way slightly in front of Adrien, his hand still on his shoulder, as if to shield him from this man’s wrath.

Marinette held his other hand, giving him a reassuring smile before turning to glare at the stranger.

“You… do you three know what that boy DID? How utterly HORRIBLE he is?!” The man hissed, stalking over.

Adrien tensed, ready to run. This sounded a lot like what the Not-Ladybug had said in his nightmare world, and what the Fake Marinette had said about him in Nino’s world.

But this man was a total stranger. What reason could he have to hate Adrien so much?

“Back away, dude,” Nino warned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but STAY BACK.”

“Oh, so you’re DEFENDING him now? After he threatened to leave Ladybug to ROT?! After he held the whole city hostage while he threw a little temper tantrum?! He’s supposed to shut up and fight. NOTHING. ELSE.”

…Huh?

What was he TALKING about?

…This probably wasn’t their world.

“I’m glad Ladybug took your Miraculous. You didn’t want to fight? You thought ABANDONING Ladybug was acceptable? Well, now you can NEVER HAVE IT AGAIN. You got exactly what you wanted didn’t you, but now everyone knows what a disgusting human being you are!”

Took his Miraculous – took Plagg – and he deserved it –

_ “Please take me and get me away from this horrible boy, the Guardian made a terrible choice!” _

That- that was-

Again? This was happening again?

Oh CRAP, would LADYBUG-

“YOU. TAKE. THAT. BACK.”

Nino and Marinette marched up to the man, looking like they were about to throw more than words if he went much further.

This- this wasn’t that nightmare world. It was similar, but-

This time he had his friends here. His REAL friends.

And they would never do that.

The man sneered. “I hope it’s worth it to you, to defend such a horribly toxic person. I bet you’re just as bad. You’re ENABLING him, making him think he’s an acceptable human being. If you keep this up, you’ll be in the same boat as him. And you’ll deserve it.”

NO.

“Threaten me, call me terrible things, fine. But leave my friends out of this!”

The man’s lips curled into a triumphant smile. “So he has SOME integrity after all. Where was this when you left Ladybug?”

…This wasn’t worth engaging in. The man wasn’t going to back down or be persuaded.

“Come on, let’s go.”

He tugged Marinette away, who looked ready to launch into a volley of insults and defenses. He loved her sense of justice – the way she stood up to Hawkmoth, stood up for what was right and good and told him off, all while promising they’d both defend Paris – it was one of the reasons he first fell in love with her.

But sometimes fighting back directly would just get them hurt. And looking around, this appeared to be one of those times – at least without having more information first.

Best to just walk away.

They retreated. Thankfully the man didn’t follow them, though he had a heart-stopping moment when he thought he might.

Sequestered near a tree in a nearby park, they regrouped.

“I think I’ve found what that man was talking about.”

Adrien looked over at Alya, who was looking down, frowning at her phone.

Huh. Reception worked in these fake worlds apparently. Who knew?

He and the others crowded around her.

_ Useless Chat Noir threatens to quit; is fired before he has a chance. _

_ Chat fiddles while Paris sinks _

_ Arrogant, entitled Chat Noir revealed to be useless, conceited rich boy Adrien Agreste! Should we really be surprised? _

The last one was from the Ladyblog.

The phone shook in Alya’s hand. “I- ERGH! I just – I know this can’t be real, but I still can’t BELIEVE this!”

Adrien smiled slightly. He and Alya had been hanging out more – mostly in friend groups, still not as much one-on-one – but they’d gotten to know each other a lot better than they did before, when it was mostly in passing. Though they HAD started bonding over their love of superheroes lately, even exchanging comic books. It was nice to have someone to geek out about that with. Nino and Marinette liked superheroes, but they were more casual fans who just saw a few movies and cartoons now and then. The deep absurdity of the comics? That’s something only he and Alya shared.

Turning his attention back to Alya’s phone, he frowned. ‘Paris sinks’… that sounded familiar.

Some videos popped up in Alya’s search results as well.

The thumbnails looked kinda familiar as well, though being so small and seeing from a distance… well, that didn’t mean much.

Alya clicked on one.

The video expanded. It was clearly shot at a distance, but the sound quality and picture were still pretty good.

It showed him as Chat Noir, sitting around on an abandoned rooftop, surrounded by water.

Flooded Paris… was this the Syren attack?

_ “This is so dumb.” He stood up. “Claws in!” _

_ Plagg came shooting out of the ring as he detransformed. _

So far it looked just like his memory of that day. He’d been so close to giving up – though he’d doubted that it would’ve been forever. He had a habit of coming around as soon as His Lady was in any serious danger.

That day, Plagg had affirmed how much Adrien meant to him, personally, not just as a tool. And Ladybug had persuaded Fu to drop by and fill him in.

That day, his closest friends had affirmed that they DID care about him as a person, not just as a tool, as a fighter. Something that he struggled with remembering sometimes, with how his father emphasized his worth being tied to what he could do for him and ignoring his feelings or protests about anything he wanted him to do.

He’d been in a dark place, but between Plagg and Ladybug, they’d helped pull him out of it.

_ “Tell me what Ladybug’s hiding from me, or I’m done!” Adrien put his fingers on the ring, ready to pull it off. _

Huh. Something about this seemed slightly off. Nothing he could really nail down, but… it didn’t feel right.

_ “Go ahead. Pull it off. You don’t deserve it anyway.” _

WHAT?!

Ok, that was definitely NOT Plagg. Not the Plagg that he knew, not the REAL Plagg anyway. This was like that fake Plagg, from the earlier nightmare world.

_ “You’re willing to threaten for everyone to DROWN, hold Paris hostage just because you’re unhappy with being kept out of the loop?! You’d leave her to fight alone, make her apologize and fill you in?! You’re not worthy of knowing what Ladybug does. THAT’S why I didn’t show you, tell you everything. And now? You’re replaceable, you know that? Go ahead, get rid of the ring, I’d WELCOME it. You’re a horrible Chat Noir and a horrible partner to Ladybug. You shut up and follow orders. That’s all you’re good for.” _

WHAT.

That wasn’t- he’d never- WHAT THE HELL?!

The video froze.

Alya lifted her finger from the phone. “Ok, before we continue with this any further, I think we all need a moment. Because I’m about ready to either scream at someone or throw up from watching that, and I doubt any of you are doing any better.”

“Plagg would never say that. Would never THINK that! I may not know him as well as Adrien does, but I sure as hell know that!” Marinette spoke up, a dangerous look on her face.

Nino looked over at him. “Dude. I know we’ve all talked about how this isn’t right, it isn’t true, but… just to say it some more, just in case you’re doubting… I took on the ring for awhile. I could do it, but I still wasn’t YOU. I can substitute in an emergency, but that doesn’t make you replaceable. Not as a person. No more than Alya being able to take on the Ladybug Miraculous in an emergency makes Marinette ‘replaceable’.”

He closed his eyes and just… breathed.

He knew what had really happened.

He knew that Plagg wouldn’t do that. Wouldn’t react like that. That none of his friends would.

But… it was really reassuring to hear them say it.

“I think… I think I’m good. Go ahead and play it.”

They all looked a little uncertain, but Alya hit play. Still, he noticed they all cuddled up closer to him than was technically necessary.

_ “I- Wha- That’s not what I was-“ _

_ Plagg hissed, drowning out whatever the version of him on-screen was going to say. _

_ “So it’s YOU.” _

Adrien flinched at the menace, the scorn in Ladybug’s voice.

Marinette pressed up harder against him, intertwining her hand with his.

_ “I always thought you were a nuisance who couldn’t do his job properly. But this? This is going too far. I lead, you follow. I tolerated you because at the end of the day, you usually did what you were told. But if you’re not prepared to do that, if you demand to know more than you need to, if you THREATEN me, threaten Paris with leaving me alone, leaving me in danger because you’re throwing a little temper tantrum?” _

_ Ladybug threw her yo-yo, knocking his loosened ring from his hand. Plagg caught it, delivering it to her. _

_ “Then you don’t deserve a Miraculous anyway. Go home and rot, for all I care. I’ll find someone more worthy.” _

_ Tears ran down Adrien’s face as he stammered incoherently. _

A drop of liquid fell on Adrien’s hand.

“ADRIEN!”

He looked up and over at Marinette.

Her own eyes looked slightly puffy, but her mouth was set in a thin, determined line.

“SHE. IS. WRONG.”

Maybe. But…

“Some of this… some of this did happen. Or something close to it.”

As Marinette’s mouth fell open, he hastened to clarify. “Not what Plagg and Not-you said and did, but… some of the rest of it. The threatening to take off the ring part? That really happened. I did that.”

She blinked.

He braced himself for some sort of admonishment, for her to yell at him like in the video-

But she just softly ran her hand along his face. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her tone was so different from what he’d just heard. So kind and gentle.

He forced himself to speak. “Not really. But… I think I need to.”

Gathering his thoughts together, he spoke slowly and carefully. “Shortly before we fought Syren we had a short mission with Alya – or rather, Rena Rouge. I was happy to have her on the team, but… well. I was afraid and… and very insecure. Cataclysm isn’t necessary. Not like your Miraculous Ladybug and Akuma purification are. And if Rena had your back – well, did you really need me? And with being kept in the dark about her identity, while YOU could know hers, and you were getting all these Miraculous from somewhere else and knew important, Miraculous-related things you wouldn’t talk to me about and- and I just felt like I wasn’t needed. Or wanted. I’d thought we were a team of equals, you know? Even if you took the lead, that ultimately both of us had the same authority, had the same power level overall.

But then… that wasn’t true anymore, and I didn’t know why.”

Marinette looked really downcast, her eyes dropping to her shoes as she took shaky breaths.

Adrien’s heart panged. “Crap, Marinette, I didn’t mean – I understand why NOW, why you couldn’t just tell me everything. It wasn’t your secret to share.”

“I- I know,” she said, her voice small. “But… even if I couldn’t do much about that then, just knowing what you were going through – the version of you in my nightmare world was talking about the same thing. I was sort of hoping, once I found out that that wasn’t the true you, that it was some sort of made-up version, that you hadn’t been through that level of hurt, but… now I’m thinking that maybe the one from my nightmare world was more accurate than I thought – that he represented those feelings of frustration and anger you have, just… not everything else about you.

For what it’s worth, I hated it too. You’re my partner, friend, and even boyfriend now – not my sidekick.”

She winced. “…There were a few points where maybe I could’ve done better. Like when I first found the book and suspected your father of being Hawkmoth. Fu never told me to keep the book secret, just to be careful, since he believed whoever had the book was probably Hawkmoth. But that shouldn’t have kept me from telling you about it. It didn’t really endanger my secret identity – I could just have said I found it as Ladybug shortly before confronting Lila about her lies – and I knew I could trust you.

Honestly I’m still not sure why I DIDN’T tell you about it. I can put up some guesses but… ultimately, I just don’t think I was thinking about how that would feel for you. I was hung up on other thoughts, like relief over discovering that you weren’t secretly Hawkmoth-“

WHAT.

“PFFFFT- BLAAA HA HA HA?!”

If he’d been drinking something, he would’ve done a spit-take. As it was, his mouth had apparently decided to improvise.

She chuckled too, until it turned into full-on laughter, Alya and Nino soon joining in.

It wasn’t really that funny, but… well, after all this, they needed a laugh.

“It’s- it’s such a ridiculous thought now, but… but you had the book, so maybe-“

“Maybe you thought the most meowvelous boy you knew secretly ran around mind-controlling people and giving them some of the most ridiculous and ugly costumes known to man?”

She burst into raucous laughter again, taking a good thirty seconds to calm down to the point where she could speak again. “To- to be fair, I doubt your fashion sense is THAT much better.”

He clutched his chest. “Oh, how my Princess has wounded me with her sharp tongue and piercing words! But there you are wrong, Milady. For while my designing sense pales in comparison to yours, I at least know what good supervillain designs should look like. And a child’s bathtub toy is not one of them.”

Nino shuddered. “I don’t know whether Hawkmoth just REALLY hates me or what. I don’t think even Reflekta’s design was uglier – and she was supposed to be as eye-catching and garish as possible.”

He grinned. “See, if I’d had the Butterfly Miraculous, you would’ve looked more like Zorro. Or maybe the Dread Pirate Roberts.”

“The Princess Bride? Who would you be then?”

Oh he’d THOUGHT about this one. “Inigo Montoya, of course!”

“…So we’d have an awesome sword fight where we both got to be as ridiculously awesome and over-the-top as possible?”

“You know it!”

Nino looked at Alya and Marinette plaintively. “Guys we’ve got to find some way of tracking down Hawkmoth. Our movie re-enactment depends on it!”

Marinette giggled a little. “Sure. Hawkmoth won’t know what’s coming for him!”

They all laughed a little more at that.

Marinette’s face turned serious once again. “I made a mistake back then I think, not telling you at least a little more of why I suspected Hawkmoth. I’m really glad you know now.”

He nodded, giving her a small smile. “Thanks, Marinette.”

Taking another breath, he continued with his story. The short little aside had helped at least, had given him and the others a breather from this screwed-up situation, even if only for a couple minutes.

“When you left to go do something, something Miraculous-related that I wasn’t allowed to know about, and I just needed to wait for you to come back, I just… I put up with it for a bit, but I just kept going over and over in my head what you knew, why you might’ve left, how you already had a new partner you’d gotten to pick yourself and I just… I snapped.”

_ He sat there waiting for her to return. _

_ She’d done this a few times before, left to go pick up a Miraculous or something, but… the other times he’d been otherwise preoccupied, had some role to fill while she was gone, like when he helped hold off the Sapotis or was helping to preoccupy the panthers like earlier that morning. He still wished he could come with, but he had a vital role, a job he was doing, and he understood that. _

_ But this time? This time was different. _

_ He couldn’t DO anything about Syren. Everyone’d already evacuated themselves (Parisians had gotten VERY good at that over the past few months). _

_ There was no greater purpose, greater reason to him needing to stay behind. He just wasn’t allowed to know whatever Ladybug knew, and wasn’t allowed to know WHY he wasn’t allowed to know, either. _

_ Secret identities, he understood. He still thought that maybe it would be better, be worth it to know each other’s identities. Both because they could coordinate better… and more selfishly, he’d sometimes admit to himself, because then they could hang out more, get to know each other better than they could now. _

_ But this? He could tell that Ladybug wasn’t the only one involved in this, she’d mentioned needing to talk to ‘him’ about bringing – well, himself, into the loop. _

_ He didn’t want to take it out on Ladybug. But – he just- _

_ He was ALWAYS left in the dark. Whether by her, now, or by his father when he asked- well, pretty much anything, but especially concerning his mother. _

_ Didn’t he have at least SOME right to know these things? About things related to him, and people he cared about? _

_ And no one would tell him why he couldn’t know in the first place. _

_ Not even Ladybug or Plagg. _

_ Did they just not care? _

_ He stood up, muttering to himself. “This is so dumb! Claws in.” _

_ Plagg spiraled out of the ring, groaning. “What’s taking her so long?” _

_ Adrien slowly started pulling the ring off his finger. _

_ “Whoa, easy!” Plagg cried out, alarmed. “W-What are you doing?!” _

_ Something he’d had percolating in the back of his mind since that morning, since Ladybug left with Rena Rouge, leaving him out of the loop – while also showing she could bring in another superhero on demand whenever she needed help. _

_ He loved being Chat Noir. He loved running across rooftops, fighting villains, and most of all, seeing His Lady. _

_ But he had his limits, and his self-respect. _

_ “If you don’t tell me what Ladybug is hiding from me, I’m done!” _

_ He’d followed along with her plans, trusting her to come up with good ones, and to tell him what he needs to know. Trusting that even if he couldn’t see what she was doing, what she was planning, even if it made no sense to him, it was for the best. _

_ But that didn’t mean he was fine with not being told anything at all. _

_ He trusted her. But it seemed like she didn’t return that trust, not even enough to tell him why. _

_ And she didn’t need him. _

_ “You can’t do that!” _

_ “Why not? No one’ll know if I quit. No one’ll care.” _

_ She had Rena Rouge now. She’d barely even notice his absence. If she just needed a superhero to help her pull off her plans – well, she had another one now. _

_ And while she’d laughed and joked with him, while they’d shared some intimate moments together – it was starting to feel like she didn’t respect him as an equal. Didn’t think he had the right to know anything beyond what he technically needed to, in order to fulfill his role in battle. _

_ He got enough of that, of only being told what he needed to in order to get a job done, with his father. _

_ He didn’t have any choice with that. Not if he still wanted to be able to see his friends. _

_ He  _ did _ have a choice with this. _

_ “ _ I _ will!” _

_ “Why? Because you won’t have anyone to give you Camembert?” _

_ He smiled as he said that, but he was only half-joking. He knew how much Plagg loved cheese, and he cared for Plagg, but… well, was he so different from Ladybug here? He provided Plagg with food. Did he care at all past what he could give Plagg, what he could do for him? _

_ But… even just seeing that concern, that immediate alarm at seeing him thinking of quitting… _

_ Even if he wasn’t sure of the reasons yet. Plagg at least didn’t want him to leave. _

_ “Oh, I’m sure there’ll be another Chat Noir to give me cheese…” Plagg said in a faux casual manner, turning his back on Adrien. _

_ Plagg looked back at him over his shoulder, “but he won’t be you.” _

_ He cared. _

_ Genuinely. _

_ And not just because of what Adrien could give him. _

_ Plagg could find another wielder easily, or someone else could find a wielder for him. _

_ But Plagg didn’t WANT another wielder. _

_ Didn’t just WANT someone else to give him cheese. _

_ He wanted Adrien. _

_ Not for what he could do for him, but for who he was. _

“Fu appeared immediately after that saying he’d tell me everything later, but for now, he needed me to go help Ladybug, and handed over a vial of the transformation potion. Realizing that Plagg cared and that you’d made good on your promise, had talked Fu into appearing and filling me in? I may have hit a low point that day, but… between you and Plagg? Both of you lifted me up that day, showed me I was wrong. That even if neither of you would tell me everything, you cared. That I wasn’t just a useful tool. That I wasn’t to be seen and not heard.”

Marinette pulled him into a hug. “God, Chat, if I’d known it was this bad I would’ve done something sooner. Would’ve pushed for Fu to reveal himself sooner. And… and even before that, have worked harder on bringing you into the loop when I could. Have tried to give you more information when possible, have talked with you more as an equal partner. I just… I got caught up sometimes in thinking that everything was on my shoulders, that everything was my responsibility, that… well, I thought it was my duty to make the decisions, to take that on, and forgot about the effect that could have.”

He gave her a small smile. “It’s fine, Buginette. It hasn’t been a problem lately anyway – not with Fu talking with everyone and the four of us knowing each other’s identities.”

“I can’t believe whatever’s causing all this, is using that moment to just… just to try say you’re horrible!” Marinette shuddered. “I know what it’s like to think you’re not needed, that giving up your Miraculous is – if not for the better, not going to make things worse, and to be insecure in general. You guys all saw that back when I tried to give my Miraculous up that first day.”

Adrien shuddered. He’d been shocked to see that – they all had. The idea of Ladybug not being there, of her honestly not thinking she was good enough – he’d seen her self-doubt before, but never so blatantly.

And just… never seeing her again, at least while not KNOWING she was her…

Alya would’ve been competent with the Ladybug Miraculous even if he believed that Marinette was a better fit. It would’ve been doable.

But he wouldn’t just miss Ladybug – miss Marinette, though he wouldn’t know it – because of the role she played.

Even back then, just knowing her for that short amount of time, he was enamored with her and wanted to get to know her better. To get to know the slightly awkward girl who fell on him and tangled them both up in her yo-yo, and the awesome, courageous, clever girl who fought beside him to defeat Stoneheart.

He’d miss HER, not for her role, but for who she was.

Same as she did with him; he knew that now.

He squeezed her tightly. “We really are a pair, aren’t we?”

She gave a small smile. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

* _ cough _ *

Adrien glanced over towards the sound, at Alya.

“As much as I’d love to continue this, we need to figure out what to do now. If a random bystander has that kind of reaction to Adrien I don’t want to know what the reaction of someone who knows him personally would be like; plus, the longer we stand around, the more likely we’ll attract unwanted attention.”

Oh crap. He’d forgotten about that. That man had been bad enough. If there was a crowd…

He shuddered. Crowds of people all fixated on him were bad enough when they LIKED him. When spewing insults and treating him as if he was one of the worst human beings alive? And when his friends might get caught in the crossfire?

Bad enough that time he snuck away to watch his mother’s movie and gotten Marinette caught up in it. But at least she didn’t seem to be too terribly upset about the paparazzi assuming they were a couple! She’d just seemed a bit flu… stered…

…Okay so in hindsight that made a LOT more sense.

Marinette frowned, putting her hand to her chin. “We’ve gotta be careful since we can’t escape or fight anything very easily, especially if one of our superpowered counterparts tries to fight us. Well except for Chat I guess, since… well…”

She trailed off, wincing awkwardly.

That’s right, the Ladybug here had taken Chat’s Miraculous.

Had taken HIS Miraculous.

But… that wasn’t His Lady in the video. That had been very clear from the start.

…the version of himself though?

Hmm…

“Maybe we should visit this place’s version of me, see whether that’ll give us any leads?” he suggested.

“You know, I think you might be onto something there,” Marinette said, slowly perking up. “Since he doesn’t have a Miraculous anymore, he probably can’t attack us if things go wrong. He seemed more normal than anyone else too, sounded and reacted more like- well, YOU. I don’t know whether that means he’ll be more able to help, but… well right now, I wouldn’t mind just meeting someone who hasn’t gone crazy.”

“Just be careful,” Nino said warily. “I thought the same thing with the Marinette in that nightmare I was trapped in, and… well, you know how that turned out.”

Nino hadn’t recounted the full thing, but from what he HAD said, he’d rather take his chances with this reality’s Ladybug than the Marinette he’d met.

…Aaaaand time to stop thinking about that before he got even more stressed. Deal with the current terrible situation, no use dwelling over a past one he had no control over and was already resolved.

“Next stop, Adrien’s place!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Ladybug saw what went down in Syren with Chat almost giving up the Ring, there's NO WAY IN HELL she'd yell at him about it. She'd be devastated that he felt so bad he was willing to give up something he loved!
> 
> Also with the civilians in Syren (and OH HELL has Syren been litigated to death), the shots of Paris filling up with water make sure to show everyone involved escaping to higher ground or finding some manner of floatation and being perfectly fine, with no one panicking or all that worried and no one being injured or hurt, I'm pretty sure we're meant to be believe that everyone was fine, even though that's unrealistic considering what happened. Considering how unrealistic ML Paris is in general (seriously do only like. 500 people live there?) I'm willing to take it at that. There wasn't much of a reaction to that skyscraper being felled back in Origins and that was before anyone knew that Ladybug could repair things (plus she didn't actually repair anything until the next day), so collateral damage in ML that isn't explicitly shown doesn't seem to be counted as that big a deal usually. So I figure Parisians are just reaaaally good at escaping harm and also are really lucky in general.
> 
> One of the things that really bugs me with a lot of Adrien salt is how it totally discounts his thoughts, emotions, and mindset as being invalid, as not mattering. As if his only purpose in life is to be a tool and if he asserts any dissent or will of his own, he's treated as evil. He's just... he's not treated like a person in his own right.
> 
> There's NO WAY his friends would stand for that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning; this is what I believe to be the most intense chapter in this fic, especially with how Saltinette is meshed with general salter attitudes towards Adrien. Which get um. REALLY bad.

“We didn’t think this through.”

They stared up at the closed gates.

Adrien’s heart sunk. Normally he’d just transform and go through his window, but… that was out of the picture now.

Still, it wasn’t like he’d never snuck out of his house before that. And if he could sneak out, he could sneak in.

…Probably. Not like he’d ever had to do that before. Heck, if he was caught outside Nathalie and Gorilla would just…

...escort him…

…inside.

OOH.

“Hey guys? I have an idea.”

Adrien rang the doorbell.

A moment later the camera and microphone turned on. “Adrien? What are you DOING out there?! How dare you leave the premises! I shouldn’t be surprised though, with the way you left Ladybug. You’re always making trouble for everyone else.”

He flinched at Nathalie’s voice. He knew it wasn’t really her, it was whatever this screwed-up world made her into, but… well, it still sounded like her.

“I’m sorry,” he said plaintively, scuffing his feet on the ground. “I- I just-“

“I should just leave you out there and let the public teach you a lesson. Maybe then you’ll think twice before running off. Clearly Ladybug taking your Miraculous wasn’t enough. Perhaps you need further instruction on the consequences of not sitting down and doing what you’re told.”

Adrien gulped. It’s not real. It’s NOT REAL. She doesn’t mean that. Well, okay, maybe she did normally want him to follow orders, but… she wouldn’t want him to be hurt if he didn’t!

He stuck a hand in one of his pockets, trying to stop from twitching.

Breathe in. Breathe out. His friends were here. He couldn’t talk or touch them right now without alerting Nathalie to their presence, but they were there. And they valued him as a person, not a servant.

“Please. I promise I won’t disobey again. I’ll do whatever Father tells me to. Whatever you tell me to. Just… let me in?”

The camera retracted, the gate unlatching and opening.

He walked through.

Just before the gate closed his friends darted in as well, making a rush for the edges of the yard.

They got there just in time. Nathalie opened the front door as they ducked out of sight. “Come in, Adrien. Do NOT make me wait.”

He hastened through the door, Nathalie’s hand on his shoulder… and promptly broke away, making a run for it.

“WHAT?! ADRIEN! WHEN YOUR FATHER FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS-!”

It’s NOT Father, he doesn’t have control over you, JUST KEEP RUNNING.

Luckily while Nathalie may have had longer legs she wasn’t in as good a shape as Adrien was. And she’d never played hide-and-seek in the manor.

He darted through various rooms, hiding in a closet or behind a chair every now and then to let Nathalie run past him.

After a few minutes he made his way towards his own room once Nathalie seemed to be off his trail – at least right then.

Marinette, Nino, and Alya were already there trying to make themselves inconspicuous, with varying degrees of success.

“You lost her?”

He nodded. “For now at least. You guys took the route I told you about?”

Marinette nodded. “We had to duck under cover a few times to stop Nathalie from noticing us, but yeah.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “We should be in the clear for a little bit then. This is the last place Nathalie would look for me – if I wanted to go to my room I could’ve just gone with her.”

“I hope you’re right…”

Adrien gave her a small, hopefully reassuring smile.

“Come on guys. Let’s talk to me.”

* * *

“Felix? Father let you come?”

Adrien blinked.

Other Adrien blinked back.

Then the rest of his friends came in and Other Adrien dived under his covers.

Marinette slowly approached, reaching her hand out towards him. “We’re not here to hurt you. Or yell at you. We’re not from here, we’re from… somewhere else. We just want to talk.”

The lump moved, Other Adrien’s head poking out from under the covers, the blankets wrapping around him like a blanket burrito with Other Adrien filling.

Okay, now he could see why he was called ‘cute’ so often.

“Your voice,” Other Adrien said slowly, “you sound… normal. Or… not normal? Everything’s been just… warped and off and… and I don’t understand!”

So he could tell that things weren’t right? So things hadn’t always been like this to him then.

Adrien stepped forwards. “What do you mean? What were things like before? How’re things off?”

Other Adrien froze. “I… I don’t… I don’t know! Before… what was before…? WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER?!”

Marinette placed her hand on Other Adrien’s shoulder. He flinched, giving her a fearful look. She smiled at him. Slowly he relaxed into her touch. “It’s okay, uh… Adrien?” She looked questioningly at himself.

He just shrugged. “I’ve been calling him Other Adrien in my head, but… how about calling one of us ‘Adrien’ and the other one ‘Chat’?”

“Would you like that?” Marinette asked Other Adrien softly. He nodded, opened his mouth as if to ask something… and then seemed to think better of it, closing it and looking at the floor.

Why would he…?

Oh. Of course. One of the big things this place seemed to be emphasizing was how horribly bad or wrong he was for having his own desires or needs.

They were probably the first ones not to treat him like dirt since… well since that thing with Syren happened or since this world came into existence. Still unclear on that.

He wouldn’t want to chase them off. To risk being alone again, to risk being attacked.

So he kept his mouth shut in the fear he’d drive off the only people he’d had for a long time.

Marinette seemed to pick up on it too. “Hey, it’s okay. I know- I know how you’ve been yelled at for speaking up. For standing up for yourself. But we’re not going to do that.”

He looked down for a moment, seeming to think. Then- “Can I be Chat?” he asked quietly.

She gave him a smile and a small nod. “Whatever you want.”

Chat’s expression softened slightly, tension leaving his body. “Thank you.”

Adrien’s brow furrowed. Chat seemed at least mostly normal – warier, more anxious, and more depressed than he normally was, but he’d expect that given the circumstances. He didn’t seem likely to turn around and attack them at least.

But… why? Why wasn’t he affected by this? Or at least, not like the other people they’d seen had been? Why did he have some clue that this wasn’t right, if this was a made-up world?

…Was it a made-up world? It seemed like the ones they’d all encountered before, but… hm. Then again they didn’t know how those functioned either.

The ‘people’ in those worlds seemed like facsimilies of the people from their own and that seemed true of this one as well, except…

Except for Chat.

Chat didn’t belong here.

Like they hadn’t in their nightmare worlds, each trapped within their own bodies, forced to do horrible things.

Except…

“Nino,” he whispered.

Nino looked over at him, concerned. “What is it, dude?”

He shook his head. “It’s not- I just thought of something. In mine, Marinette’s, and Alya’s Nightmare Worlds, we were able to break out after realizing that things were wrong, being able to really identify how things were wrong and different and that we wouldn’t act like – well, how we were acting. Not immediately always, but – it seemed to have something to do with it. But in your Nightmare World, how did you break out again? I remember it being similar, but unlike the rest of us, you were still acting like – well, YOU, even though the rest of the world was messed up.”

Which made him wonder why Nino was different from the rest of them, but one issue at a time. For all he knew it could’ve been dumb luck.

“It didn’t take me long to realize things were wrong – my memory and mind seemed to be a little less affected than everyone else’s, I didn’t have that mental fog to the same degree. But it didn’t strike me HOW wrong it was until I met with ‘Marinette’,” Nino made air quotes with his fingers, “and she started on her ‘I have been so wronged and will seek my righteous revenge’ rant. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t Marinette, that Marinette would never be like that, even under those circumstances. The reality didn’t break apart until just after I told her that though, that it wasn’t right and didn’t make sense.”

Nino blinked. “Dude, you don’t think…?”

He nodded. “It’s worth a shot.”

“What’re you two talking about?”

Adrien blinked and looked over at Chat, who flinched and immediately drew deeper into his blanket burrito.

He gave Chat his best reassuring smile. “It’s ok, you can ask. We were talking about some of the previous worlds we were in like this; well, sort of worlds, they actually seemed more like dreamscapes?” He scratched the back of his neck. “We’re a little unclear on that. Anyway some similar stuff was going on, with Marinette especially.”

He grimaced. “In a lot of the other worlds the version of Ladybug in them said similar sort of stuff to what the Ladybug in THIS world said. The one I was trapped in called me useless, said I was goofing off, and stole my Miraculous too, along with… well, a LOT of other stuff.”

He shivered. “Though… in that universe, I could sort of see it. Being trapped in that version of myself’s head, being forced to think what he thought, do what he did… he was genuinely pretty awful.”

That was an understatement. The way he’d enjoyed her fear, wanted to dominate her, tried to reach for her against her will…

If she hadn’t been able to transform – if that version of him had actually been able to overpower her – what would’ve happened?

How far would things have gone?

“Adrien? Are you okay?”

He plastered his reassuring smile back on his face. “Just thinking about some stuff, I’ll be fine,” he told Marinette. She still looked concerned but didn’t say anything.

Everyone else had been through similar bad experiences. He didn’t want to make them worry about him, not when they’d gone through stuff that was just as bad or even worse.

He turned back to Chat. “I think this world is, if not the same as the types of worlds we were trapped in, very similar at least. Those nightmare worlds just… they twisted us in different ways, made us people we’re not. And not just us, but most of the other people in that universe as well.

And if this world is similar... we might be able to escape it the same way.”

Chat blinked, his face slowly lighting up. “This world isn’t real? So that means – Ladybug doesn’t actually hate me? Plagg doesn’t hate me?”

Marinette stepped forwards, fire in her eyes. “Ladybug could NEVER hate you, Chat; EVER. You’re her partner and her best friend. Get frustrated, maybe. But hate? No. And she wouldn’t try to intentionally hurt you like this or abandon you. You mean too much to her. And you deserve better than that.”

She closed her eyes a moment, taking a deep, calming breath. “I saw what happened. Saw what she and Plagg – well, that facsimilie of Plagg – said. And you know what? She’s WRONG. THEY’RE wrong. You’re not a nuisance, you’re not useless, and you have a right to feel frustrated and bitter over being kept out of the loop. You have a right to your emotions, you have a right to be treated like… like a person and not some malfunctioning tool! You have worth beyond what you can do for other people. And honestly? If people react like this world’s Ladybug and Plagg did, yelling that you should just follow orders and that’s the only reason to keep you around, minimize your feelings, and just generally treat you like you’re not a person? Then it’s better that you’re NOT around them anymore. Not when they hurt you like that.”

She locked eyes with Chat, staring at him so intensely she almost seemed to be trying to ingrain her words on his soul. “You have worth. You have value. And ‘friendship’ gained solely by virtue of following orders and never questioning them, never standing up for yourself, never voicing your feelings and concerns, is no friendship at all.”

Reaching out, she clasped Chat’s hand. A shock ran up his body at her touch, before relaxing again. “The real Ladybug would never do that. Never intentionally hurt you like that. Her loyalties and ideals can be torn in different directions, she can get irritated, she can make mistakes, and she can just plain be wrong.

But that? That desire to hurt you, to devalue you, to break you down, trying to make you feel like you had no worth or rights of your own? That’s the last thing she’d ever want.”

“Really? You- you mean it?” Chat asked. 

Something wet rolled down Adrien’s cheek.

Oh.

…Maybe Chat wasn’t the only one who needed to hear that.

He’d talked about this with his friends before, but… well, it still helped hearing it.

Maybe someday, he’d be able to totally believe it.

Maybe someday, his friends wouldn’t have to keep reminding him.

But until ‘someday’ came, they’d be there, telling him as many times as it took.

“I KNOW it,” Marinette said fiercely.

Adrien smiled. This was part of why he first fell in love with her. Her kindness, her burning passion – how could he not?

He stepped beside her. “I’ll vouch for that. That wasn’t the real Ladybug, the woman out there isn’t the real Nathalie, and this whole thing… it’s not right.

But I have an idea of how to stop it.”

* * *

  
  


Their group darted towards the park. Ladybug was being filmed basking in praise and adoration as various Parisians vandalized Chat’s statue, garnering cheers from the rest of the crowd. 

“Paris, today is a momentous day!” she called out. “Today, we tear down a symbol to our former tolerance of that pathetic Chat. Today, we get to show him what we REALLY think of him!”

The crowd erupted into cheers, surging towards the statue.

“Now, now,” Ladybug chided. “You’ll all get your chance to leave your mark; just make sure to leave enough for everyone else. And don’t touch my statue, of course. What am I saying, I know you won’t, because all of you love and adore me because I’m the strongest, smartest, most amazingly awesome person in existence, and all of you happily worship at my feet; of course you do. Who wouldn’t?”

“Terrible people!” the crowd roared.

She grinned triumphantly. “That’s right! Everyone knows only bad people get on my bad side. And what do we do with bad people?”

“DESTROY THEIR LIVES!”

“Good, good,” she cooed. “I’m the only person who matters. Well, and you all matter too of course, so long as you continue worshipping me unquestioningly!”

“LADYBUG IS RIGHT. LADYBUG IS MIGHT. ALL WHO OPPOSE LADYBUG ARE ENEMIES. ALL WHO DO NOT SUPPORT LADYBUG ARE ENEMIES. ALL WHO DO NOT TRY TO UTTERLY DESTROY LADYBUG’S ENEMIES, ARE ENEMIES THEMSELVES!” The crowd chanted in unison.

“Give yourselves a hand!” Ladybug encouraged, clapping her hands together a few times. “For being on the right side!”

The crowd applauded wildly, the din hurting Adrien’s sensitive ears.

At least it provided cover. While the crowd was distracted the five of them pushed inside the nearest unlocked building, climbing the stairs.

When they got to the roof Alya set a doorstop she’d nabbed against it while Nino pushed a chair over to it, acting as another level of barricade. It wouldn’t hold for long, but hopefully it wouldn’t need to. They just needed to slow down a potential mob for a little bit.

Though if this failed…

Adrien shuddered. But this was the best plan they could come up with. It was risky, but… well, doing nothing wasn’t much better. Not when every person in the city seemingly had it out for them and Ladybug could easily run them down and pummel them anywhere they showed up if it came to that.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

He looked over the side of the building and winced. Ladybug was viciously punching the Chat statue’s face in, the crowd roaring in time with every hit.

He glanced back at his friends.

Alya and Nino looked livid, their hands trembling as they shot death glares at her.

Chat mostly looked resigned. Which made him wonder just how terrible this all had been for him if he was mostly desensitized to it?

Though it wasn’t like he’d had as big a reaction himself, not with how he’d worked things out with his friends already, not with how vehemently Marinette had reassured him – had reassured Chat.

Marinette though?

Her hands were trembling, balled into fists, tears filling her eyes as she grit her teeth.

She looked angry, but… more than that.

“Marinette? What’s wrong?”

She threw her head back, giving a quick, sharp laugh. “What’s- what’s wrong?! Did you hear that, hear what that- that IMPOSTER said? How she talked about you? And you’re asking ME if I’m alright?”

“I’m okay,” he told her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, eyes glued to his own. “But I’m getting the feeling that you’re not.”

She went quiet for a moment, staring at the ground. “I just… watching someone with my face, my voice, say these things, do these things… it keeps going over and over in my head. I know I’d never be like- like THAT. But then… why is she like this in so many of these Nightmares?”

Shivering, she hugged herself. “And- and I was inside her head. Well, the head of someone with a similar mindset at least, just… not to that extent. Not all of it was totally foreign. Not at first. That came later, once her thoughts turned poisonous towards you. Towards that world’s version of Chat. But before that… before that it wasn’t clear.”

Of course she’d have some doubts. Though from how she’d described them earlier they seemed unfounded – but that had never stopped his own gnawing worries, and he doubted it would stop hers – not with just telling HERSELF that, anyway.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You said it yourself. You realized something was wrong once her thoughts turned poisonous. Once her thoughts turned hateful and warped. And that’s exactly why you DON’T need to worry. As soon as she started thinking, started acting like that, you balked. I don’t think you need to worry about going down that path anytime soon, Buginette. It’s against your nature. Even if you started slipping that way, I doubt you’d get very far. I KNOW you. I know your strength, your intelligence, your sense of justice, and your kindness. You’d snap out of it; and if you couldn’t, well – the rest of us would be there to remind you of who you are.”

She gave him a small smile.

Unfortunately, ‘Ladybug’ had to ruin the moment.

She straightened up, announcing to the crowd, “Now it’s your turn! Punch him, kick him, spray paint him, LEAVE ONLY A WRECK BEHIND. Theo depicted him being stepped on, being beneath me – but he still made him look like a person. TIME TO CHANGE THAT! Do whatever you want to it, just don’t damage his legs or the arm on the ground to the point it can’t support my statue anymore. Only use as much of it, only leave intact as much of it as needed to do its job – a pity Chat Noir couldn’t make himself as useful as his statue!”

“That’s not why Theo made the statue like that!” Alya seethed.

Adrien blinked, tilting his head to the side. Truthfully he hadn’t really thought much about it – both he and Ladybug looked cool, he hadn’t considered beyond that. “You asked him about the statue?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I did an article about it for the Ladyblog shortly after it was unveiled, including an interview with the creator. He’d watched a lot of clips of you and Ladybug interacting to prepare for making the statue, and… well, I believe he phrased it this way:

‘Ladybug’s the one who sets everything right, who purifies the akuma and repairs all the damage – but she couldn’t do it without Chat Noir. He’s her rock, her foundation, her support – she can fly freely because she knows Chat’s there to catch her, that he has her back. That’s why he forms the base of the statue – he’s holding her up, ensuring she doesn’t fall.’”

Nino smiled at him. “Dude, Ladybug might get more attention, but… Paris knows how important you are, even if you’ve doubted that yourself a few times. If we thought that statue was meant to show you being inferior, being lesser? We would’ve done something about it, gotten it changed.”

“You’d have had help with that,” Marinette cut in. “You think I’d let my partner be disrespected like that?”

“The Ladyblog wouldn’t stand for it,” Alya added. “I might’ve named it after Ladybug, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t important, even if you don’t get as much of the limelight, as much of the vocal appreciation as Ladybug gets.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

People did notice; people did care. That self-doubt he had back during Syren’s attack may not totally go away, but… he knew it was wrong.

His friends wouldn’t let him forget that.

The sounds of yelling and metal being hit rang out from below. He looked down.

He wished he hadn’t.

Ladybug had already bashed his statue’s face in, leaving his features a mangled mess. Parisians thronged around it beating it with their fists (which he’d think would only hurt their own hands but they seemed so intent on personally, violently punishing him via proxy that they didn’t seem to care), spray painting it with words like “Pathetic loser murderer” and “You deserve to die.” Every now and then chants started up like “BASH HIM IN, BASH HIM IN”.

He turned away, covering his ears as he took a minute to breathe.

Nothing was going to get better by just watching this – this awfulness. He knew what to expect by now.

He just hoped his idea for how to escape worked, otherwise…

Well. He’d seen how much the crowd hated him. How much this fake Ladybug hated him. And with her having superpowers and the rest of them being without… if she wanted to hurt him physically more than she wanted to taunt and sneer, none of them could do much to stop her, especially with the entire city being on her side.

He just hoped she didn’t go after his friends.

Chat though… he was in just as much danger as himself, if not moreso.

What even WAS he? They were pretty sure this world was fake along with its inhabitants, and Chat didn’t seem quite right either, but… he didn’t appear to be a facsmilie the same way. He felt a bit of a pull towards him, a kinmanship – maybe because he was a version of himself? He wasn’t sure though. It seemed like more than that…

“You ready?” Marinette asked.

He breathed out slowly. “As I’ll ever be. What about the rest of you?”

“Dude I’ve been ready since we saw the news footage.”

“I cycled after a supervillain the first time one showed up; you think I’m ever NOT ready?”

Which left only Chat. He looked up and nodded, a glint of defiance in his eyes. “I’m not ready, but… I never will be. And I need to do this. I WILL do this. If I’m going to be hated, to be punished, maybe even hurt or killed… at least I’ll have tried.”

They all shuddered. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Marinette said, shaken.

Chat slowly walked over to the edge of the building and stopped, taking a deep breath. 

Then he shouted.

“HEY LADYBUG! YOU SUCK!”

Well. That was certainly one way to get her attention.

Ladybug’s head shot upright. The crowd around her booed.

“Flood the buildings!” she commanded sharply. “You’ll want to see this.”

They surged into the nearby buildings, most going towards the one they were in, but a few in the surrounding buildings – probably to cut off any avenues of escape, if they could manage to get over to them.

They needn’t have bothered. This… this was a one-shot plan. If this failed…

Adrien swallowed. Then they’d better hope that this fake Ladybug and the world in general was more merciful than it seemed, or they were toast.

She swung her yo-yo, flinging herself onto the rooftop. Her eyes swept over the five of them, registering only the faintest glimmer of surprise before focusing on Chat.

Well… more like over FOUR of them…

Her eyes almost seemed to slide from Adrien to Chat, in a way that left him unsure whether she truly saw him or not.

“So you finally slinked out of your hidey-hole,” she sneered. “You should’ve stayed there. Pathetic and alone, getting what you wanted – to not need to follow my orders. It’s more than you deserve. Just staying put in your little room. You should never have been chosen in the first place.”

She stepped closer to Chat. A look of uncertainty crossed his face.

Adrien could understand why. Even knowing they were false, her stinging words wormed their way into his head.

A vicious, gleeful smile formed on her face. “I could see right through your little tricks, you know. ‘Saving’ me all the time? Taking hits for me, getting hurt or incapacitated for a fight? Did you really think that ruse would work on me? You were just manipulating me, weren’t you? It’s not like I ever needed your help; I’m awesome enough that I don’t need you at all. And you being so incompetent that using your own body as a shield was your only option? HAH! You just wanted to throw yourself into danger so I’d feel obligated to you for supposedly ‘saving’ me, for getting hurt on my behalf. Bet you liked it, didn’t you? Getting to slack off with the excuse of fading from existence or getting mind-controlled? You could just leave it alllll up to poor, overworked, overburdened me to solve, while you just got to sit there and rake in the pity points, hoping to exchange them for a date.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. She could NOT be serious. She thought getting hit, getting hurt, even kinda-sorta DYING was some sort of – some sort of hook-up artist type crap?

What – how – he didn’t even understand how that thought process WORKED?!

Considering the various strangled noises coming from his other friends, he gathered they were in the same state of disbelief that he was.

She leaned towards him, getting in Chat’s face. “And Adrien! Poor, sweet little prince of Paris, the golden boy everyone loves. You just put on a sad face to get people to feel bad for you, to get you the attention you crave. Your mother died months ago and you still look sad about it? Suck it up! Oh, and looking sad when your father forbids you to do something, or doesn’t show up, or says something harsh – if you REALLY cared, if you weren’t just a pathetic little sniveling victim, you’d stand up to him, fight back. You just don’t because you’re too spineless to even do that much. You’d rather just look sad and have everyone go ‘D’aww, how bad for him” than to kick your father to the curb and take control yourself, to fight back.”

She reached over, moving to touch the side of his face. “You deserve this. You deserve ALL of this. Everything that’s happened to you. The way you’ve been treated, are being treated. It’s all your fault.”

Her hand never reached his cheek.

Chat caught it before it could get there.

She hissed. “How DARE you?!”

“I dare,” he stated, a faint tremble in his voice, but with an undercurrent of steel. “Because you’re wrong; some friends showed me that.” 

He turned back slightly towards the group of them, giving them a faint smile – especially at Marinette.

Turning back, all trace of levity vanished. His eyes hardened. “But you; you aren’t a friend. Friends don’t do this. Friends listen to you when you’re upset, they talk with you when you need to work something out, they don’t… they don’t treat you having emotions like an inconvenience, they don’t blame you for not being able to stop someone else from hurting you, they don’t treat you like a tool to be used and discarded at their leisure, they… they treat you like a FUCKING HUMAN BEING!”

Ladybug recoiled, fear flashing across her eyes.

“Of course I’m not your friend,” she said. “Who’d want to be friends with someone like you? You don’t-“

Her voice quavered slightly, some of the fire gone. 

“LADYBUG would want to be my friend,” Chat stated firmly. “Ladybug IS my friend.”

“I don’t want to be-“

“YOU. AREN’T. LADYBUG.”

She froze.

The world held still for a moment.

Then it broke apart.

The buildings, trees, people, EVERYTHING dissolved into small white particles – very similar to what fell on them when this all began, that seemed to be the cause of these crazy messed-up worlds, he noted. 

‘Ladybug’ moved slightly as she broke apart, giving all of them an evil glare before dissolving entirely.

But their other companion…

“Chat!”

He wasn’t dissolving, but… he was glowing, pulsing with light. He looked almost peaceful.

“It’s ok, Marinette,” he told her. “I get it now. Why I couldn’t remember what happened in this world before clearly, why I’m different from everyone else here. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to leave you. I’m just going back to where I belong. Where I came from.”

His body faded, leaving a small, glowing sphere of light where his heart was.

Before he could process what was happening, the orb flew into Adrien.

Thoughts, feelings, memories flowed into him. Everything Chat had felt, he felt, everything he’d done, Adrien had done.

Adrien flipped through Chat’s memories quickly.

Ah. So THAT’S why he couldn’t remember what came before. His memories didn’t start until the time they arrived in this world. It didn’t exist before that. Neither did Chat exist as a separate entity yet.

It must’ve happened when they crossed through the door, this temporary separation.

But now?

Now he was back together.

And he felt GREAT.

“Adrien!” his friends chorused, sounding alarmed.

He turned to them, smiling-

And then landed on the floor. 

“OOF!”

So. This place really was going to drop them every time they transitioned between worlds, huh?

He looked around. They appeared to be in a similar plain white room as last time, but a slightly different shape – this one was a lot more rectangular than the last one, which had been pretty clearly a square – or close to it at least.

Good. So this was a different room from before – well, probably. Maybe that meant they were making progress. Hopefully. Perhaps. 

His friends scrambled to their feet, Marinette at the front of the pack. “Adrien, are you okay?”

He gave her a smile. She went pink. “I’m fine. Best I’ve felt since we arrived here in fact. As for what happened back there with Chat? Just give me a few minutes and I’ll explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided that Theo probably had a decently positive view of Chat while making the statue and that after being purified, he probably went back to having that positive view of Chat and Ladybug's relationship. Mostly for story purposes, but it seemed feasible since he seemed to have gotten over his animosity at the end of Copycat.
> 
> I kinda wanted to put in that I don't think Ladybug would have that much RIGHT to take Chat's Miraculous either, especially before becoming Guardian (and honestly probably afterwards as well, I'm kinda iffy on how much authority they should really have), unless in extreme circumstances. Like if Plagg wanted to leave Adrien or if Chat was directly hurting people then sure, but otherwise? No. 
> 
> Let me put it this way; Ladybug would have as much right to demand or directly steal the Black Cat Miraculous from Adrien as Adrien would have to demand the Ladybug Miraculous or to steal the Ladybug Miraculous from Marinette. Ladybug generally takes the lead because she's good at coming up with plans, but they are still ultimately PARTNERS, equals. 
> 
> Not that I think either of them would ever try to confiscate the other's Miraculous without good reason in canon, like when Chat let Multimouse borrow the Ring in Kwamibuster. But oh MAN does 'you don't deserve your Miraculous' come up a lot in saltfics. 
> 
> Really the kwamis should have the most right to decide that anyway. Kinda bugs me how little agency they seem to have. (Which I think anyone who read Divergent Points: Feast probably knows).


	8. Chapter 8

Alya leaned against her boyfriend, just resting for a moment. A few meters away Marinette sat with Adrien’s head in her lap, stroking his hair as he purred like a motorboat.

She smiled. They both could use comfort after the nightmarish world they just came from.

That world’s Ladybug…. 

She shuddered.

Adrien’s situation had been pretty bad. Hearing all those people say those things about a version of him, seeing someone with the face of the person he cared most for try to hurt him as much as she could…

If they’d each been by themselves, if they’d thought that the worlds they’d gone to had been real, that the people had been genuine, that they actually thought those things…?

Between Adrien’s self-worth issues from his father’s treatment of him and Marinette’s anxiety, her fear of letting people down? 

It was a very, VERY good thing neither of them were going through this alone.

Not that she’d be doing too well by herself either. She didn’t have the same sort of issues as Adrien or Marinette, but this place could mess anyone up – Nino’d probably have some issues as well.

Come to think of it, what was up with Nino’s world? It was still really strange how he’d been the only one able to actually move around, who no one’d started out being hostile to. That world’s ‘Marinette’ had even tried to recruit him to her cause!

But all the worlds differed somewhat. 

In hers, ‘Marinette’ was a hapless victim of that… that THING that’d taken over her body, and the bodies of Adrien and Marinette in their own worlds.

Though… maybe it wasn’t so different?

Adrien’d mentioned the ‘Ladybug’ in his nightmare world saying that he’d refused to stand up while one of his friends was beaten and her property was destroyed. Assuming Ladybug had been talking about herself, about ‘Marinette’, that’d fit almost perfectly with her own nightmare.

And even Nino’s nightmare… it didn’t seem to be as extreme – not from what he thought of it – but it seemed to follow the same basic idea, the idea of everyone around Marinette shunning her, even bullying her, believing Lila – and then her taking revenge.

The world they just came from was different – Lila wasn’t involved, and Marinette wasn’t being bullied, but… it still had some similarities; mostly in Ladybug striking back for perceived slights, barely even seeming to consider the person she was taking revenge on to be, well – a person, and just seeming intent on causing the person she hated to suffer as much as possible.

What would the next world bring?

“You okay?”

Sighing, she looked over at her boyfriend. “Just trying to figure out what the deal with this place is, what’s coming next.”

She gazed at the looming door, an imposing reminder that their respite was temporary. “The last world was just… just horrible. Most of them have been. Everyone’s warped and twisted and just… not themselves. And being trapped in that… it’s like being akumatized, but being fully aware of it the whole time, and no one else knowing or CARING that something’s wrong!”

At least she hadn’t run across her counterpart in this last world. Judging by that Ladyblog article, she’d rather not have had anything to do with her. Experiencing the twisted version of herself she’d been forced to inhabit during her nightmare had been quite bad enough, thankyouverymuch. Hopefully she didn’t run into any other warped versions of herself.

Somehow she doubted the universe would be that nice.

Nino put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a warm smile. “I know things look bad. I’m worried too. But… just look at us!” He gestured to Adrien and Marinette, still lost in their own little world, then back to Alya. “We’re together. All four of us. Whatever this place has in store, we’ll manage.”

He leaned in closer. “And for us two especially… well, it isn’t exactly the first time we’ve been in trouble together, is it?”

Her face softened as she gave Nino a small smile. His courage (and recklessness, but she wasn’t exactly one to talk) attacking Anansi repeatedly, over and over, even though he stood no chance of beating her, staying with her after she was infected by Zombizou, just holding her, unwilling to let her go through that alone-

There was no one she’d rather have by her side. 

“Thanks.” Leaning over, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re right. Even if things go wrong, even if everything seems hopeless, I know you’ll be there for me, and I’ll be there for you.”

On Heroes Day, she’d seen him be targeted by Dark Cupid. And she just… she couldn’t lose him. 

So she’d taken the arrow instead.

She didn’t remember anything after that of course – the victims of mind-altering akumas usually didn’t – but she’d seen the footage. 

He’d held her, tried to calm her, speaking to her gently even as she struggled to get away and fight him. 

He didn’t give up on trying to get through to her.

Even if this place tried to warp them, break them, change them, showed facsimiles of them doing the most horrible things, tried to say they were real, that this was who they were – they’d always know the truth.

Slowly she stood up, facing the door, fists clenched. “You know what, world!” she shouted, “It doesn’t matter how much stuff you throw at us. We’re friends, and we’re a team. We’ll figure out a way out of here, kick the butt of whoever’s responsible, and get back home! So WATCH OUT!”

Looking over her shoulder, she smiled triumphantly at her friends. “You ready to take on whatever’s waiting for us?”

“Yeah!” Nino and Marinette cheered.

“Mmmmr?” Adrien grumbled sleepily, sounding like a disgruntled cat.

“…Maybe five more minutes,” Marinette chuckled.

* * *

  
  


Ooph

It would be nice if the world would NOT just drop them. But things just had to be that little bit more difficult, didn’t they? Because just walking through a door and stepping foot on the other side would be too easy. But noooo, the world had to be PETTY about it.

After standing up and dusting herself off, she took a look around.

“Huh. Francois-Dupont. Shoulda figured.”

At least they wouldn’t have to navigate an unfamiliar site.

Looking around, nothing particularly stood out as unusual. Not that it had with previous worlds either, but with this thing, you never knew.

Pulling up her phone she quickly checked the Ladyblog.

_What Ladybug REALLY thinks of Chat Noir: Lila tells all_

_Lila Rossi: The Most Talented Teen Of Our Generation_

_Malicious Marinette Bullies Disabled, Promising Classmate Lila Rossi_

So this version of her was completely fooled by Lila. And also was down with publicly shaming her friends.

Not a surprise considering her counterpart in the previous world had even worse things to say about Adrien, and in her nightmare-

She shuddered.

Ok, best not to think about that more than she had to.

(She had a feeling she’d have to).

Marinette looked over her shoulder and grimaced. “Oh. Lila.”

Yeah, that about summed up how she felt too.

Clicking on the articles, the first two seemed… well, bad, but she’d seen worse.

The tell-all about Ladybug’s and Chat’s relationship was mostly just Lila bragging about supposedly being Ladybug’s best friend while inserting little jibes about how Chat wasn’t really all that competent and how she’d been thinking of recruiting more heroes, while HEAVILY hinting that she herself would have a large role in the selection process.

The second was just her standard bragging and lies like she’d sometimes tell around school. Annoying to see herself lap them up, but well – she’d kinda done that when she first met her, though not to THIS extent. 

But the last one-

_Bugheads, I regret to inform you that a girl I once foolishly called a ‘friend’, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is a bully and a liar. I know I’ve promoted her work on this platform before, but that was before I knew she’d secretly been stealing Lila’s designs, badmouthing and lying about her behind her back to certain influential people, and even going so far as to trip her down stairs, bump into her, and purposely aggravate her medical conditions when no one’s looking!_

_I know this is hard to believe. It took me awhile to come to terms with as well. But she’s not the awesome person I and some other media outlets and celebrities have hyped her up to be in the past._

_No; that honor goes to Lila, the most talented, kindest, and all-around best person in existence._

_You want further proof of Lila’s awesomeness? She’s the reason the Ladyblog’s even a thing, the reason Ladybug’s a superhero at all! In fact, Ladybug looks up to her so much, she wanted LILA to be Ladybug at first, but she refused, seeing the talent in our beloved bug. She encouraged Ladybug to try being a superhero and pushed her into action, gave her the self-confidence she needed to become a pillar of the city. Truly we all owe Lila a debt of gratitude, and owe Marinette contempt for how she’s treated her._

Marinette peered at her phone and snorted. “She really leans into the ‘false fox’ thing, huh?”

Alya just shook her head. Clearly, this universe ran on irony.

…Oh what was she saying, even their normal universe ran on irony. She wasn’t about to forget the absurd ‘unrequited requited’ love square her best friend had managed to get into with Adrien. When she’d gone home after finding out about all THAT, she’d buried her face in her pillow and intermittently screamed and laughed her head off for a few hours.

Okay, admittedly, finding out about the existence of the Lovesquare (and consequently that two of her favorite ships were actually the SAME ship and were helping to block each other) was hardly the only reason she’d been screaming into her pillow. There’d been a LOT for her to digest that day.

More importantly though, the early part of the article was troubling. It rang a little too similar to Adrien’s, Nino’s, and her own nightmare worlds.

With the way it talked about Marinette… maybe she was the sane person in this universe? The one who was ‘split off’ of one of them upon arrival in this world? Assuming this world functioned the way the last one did of course, which was by no means guaranteed. 

Then again, the ‘Marinettes’ of some of the other worlds had also been put through this kind of thing, and the ones for Adrien’s and Nino’s worlds at least DEFINITELY weren’t in their right minds…

This would require more investigation.

A hand forcefully pulled her downwards and to the side.

“Waaa-!”

“Shh!” 

Marinette put a finger to her lips.

Confused, she looked at the school.

There was herself, walking out of school… beside Lila.

Her heart dropped. Reading the articles, this version of herself was clearly ‘friends’ with Lila. If you could call any relationship with Lila ‘friendship’. Did she even know what true friendship was like, or had she fooled herself into thinking that manipulating others was at the core of every close relationship? …Maybe she HADN’T ever had a mutually supportive relationship before, never experienced what a good friendship should be like. 

Lila was a threat certainly, and wasn’t that great a person… but maybe it was possible for her to be better?

She shook herself slightly. Time to focus on the here and now. That wasn’t actually Lila, nor could she DO anything about Lila right now. Trying to puzzle out what to do about her wasn’t exactly a priority at the moment.

She quietly stowed that whole train of thought. Maybe later she could explore that more, talk it over a bit with the others once they were out of danger.

“…so then the prince asked ME to be his top advisor! Of course, I had to say no, since I’m already advising that king – you remember the one I told you about – on how best to rule his country, and conflict of interest and all. I DID help set him up with his fiancé though! I’m even invited to his wedding!”

Well. Those were stupidly extravagant lies. Still not too far outside what she expected from Lila though.

The ‘Alya’ of this universe ate it right up. “Oh Lila. You’re so smart, and talented, and famous, and powerful. I’m so glad you’re leading several charitable agencies as well! How DO you find the time?”

Lila gave a dramatic, long-suffering sigh. “It’s hard, but I just HAD to bring everyone’s attention to the urgent need for penguin sweaters! Those poor little things…”

“Seriously? Penguin sweaters?” Alya muttered quietly. “How ridiculous-“

Marinette shook her head, whispering back, “Actually, that’s real.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“People thought it would be helpful for penguins impacted by oil spills, but it turned out not to be very useful and they got way more of them than could ever be used. Most of the ones received were sold for money to support penguins instead.”

That… actually made a lot of sense. You ask people for help putting cute penguins in tiny sweaters, you’re gonna end up with a LOT of tiny sweaters.

And if she was running a charity collecting the penguin sweaters, and they usually ended up being sold for funds instead of being put on penguins ANYWAY…

Oh. That was DEVIOUS. She was almost impressed.

“I can’t believe Marinette refused to make more penguin sweaters to help! What does she have against helping penguins stay warm!” ‘Alya’ fretted.

Lila put on a sad face. “Sadly, not everyone can be as kind and enlightened as you and I.”

Marinette mimed gagging. Alya was inclined to agree with her.

She might’ve swallowed Lila’s lies before, but she was never this sycophantic. 

And then this world’s Marinette came barreling out the front doors.

She tensed.

Oh crap she was running right past ‘Alya’.

‘Alya’ stuck out a foot.

Right in her path.

This was gonna be-

‘Alya’ pulled back her foot seconds before ‘Marinette’ reached her, a look of confusion and shock on her face before quickly smoothing away into a sneer.

“Well look who it is,” she said disdainfully, “the penguin-hater.”

‘Marinette’ looked away and downwards, her voice breaking a little. “I- I’m so busy with all my commissions, making the scarf for you, organizing school field trips, I- I’m not gonna devote that much time creating sweaters for a fake charity, that Lila’ll just sell for profit!”

Lila gasped. “Why Marinette, how could you possibly accuse me of such a heinous act! I would never do something so awful!”

“How dare you say such a thing about Lila, if you don’t- take that back-“ 

Alya’s eyes narrowed. Her counterpart seemed to be struggling, spitting words out but… it almost seemed like something was forcing them out of her throat.

And her eyes, her expression…

Her eyes bulged, her face screwing up slightly. 

‘Alya’ stepped forwards, towards ‘Marinette’, her hand closing into a fist-

And put one foot forwards a little too much, abruptly stopping her forward momentum, then moved back slightly. She grit her teeth, breathing raggedly. “I’ll- I’ll tell someone about it,” she slowly said, seeming to shape every word. “They’ll be- be really upset.” She closed her eyes, closing her mouth into a straight line. Noises emerged from her throat, but with her mouth closed, no words.

‘Marinette’s’ eyes narrowed, taking on a dangerous expression.

And then she blinked and it was gone, the doe-eyed expression returning.

But Alya saw it.

Something was wrong here.

Something was VERY wrong here.

‘Marinette’ looked at the ground, scuffing her feet. “Are- are you going to lie about me again? Tell them I’m hurting Lila, like you did before?”

“YOU’RE the liar!” Lila spat. “Tell her, Alya!”

‘Alya’ jerked, her tongue loosening. But her eyes widened, looking terrified. “It’s not a lie,” she spoke mechanically. “You are awful. Lila said you did those things, so you did. You de-de-deserve-“

Abruptly she started walking away, still attempting to finish her sentence. 

“Hey, where’re you GOING?!” Lila called. 

Alya just jerked her head to either side in what looked like an approximation of shaking her head, if it was done while actively fighting against something. Her pace sped up.

‘Marinette’ glared after her.

Alya looked at her friends. All of them looked shaken, eyes nearly as wide as Alya’s counterpart had been.

“Should we-?” she asked.

They all nodded and as a group, quietly followed after this universe’s version of Alya – and she was beginning to suspect, the ‘split-off’ fragment of herself.

* * *

  
  


As ‘Alya’ got further away, her pace sped up until she full-on ran, her movements becoming smoother, less jerky and forced. 

Alya herself was doing the best she could just to keep up with – well, ‘Alya’. Girl could be fast when she wanted to be. The four of them had long since abandoned ‘sneaking around’ in favor of ‘just trying not to lose track of her’ several minutes ago.

Luckily she was pretty distrac-

‘Alya’ abruptly stopped and turned around.

Ah, crap.

“Who- what-?”

Hissing slightly, she grabbed her other self, pulling her over to a nearby alley and out of sight. Her friends hurriedly followed them.

Was this necessary? She wasn’t sure. But the idea of being out in the open talking about this made her hair stand on end.

Better to be at least slightly hidden.

A spark went off in ‘Alya’s’ eyes. “An akuma! That’s why-!”

“No. Well… at least, WE’RE not following any akuma.”

Maybe an akuma was responsible for this? If so though, they were being surprisingly cagey about it. They tended to be a lot more obvious than this.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “If not an akuma then-“

“We’re not from around here,” she cut in.

“Wait, who are ‘we’?”

Just then Marinette, Adrien, and Nino rounded the corner.

‘Alya’ flinched for a moment looking at Marinette, braced herself… and then relaxed. “That… that THING that took over me… it’s gone now?” she murmured confusedly.

So her suspicions were correct. 

“It happened to you too, huh?”

‘Alya’ blinked. “You’ve gone through it?!”

She shrugged. “Something like it at least. I was trapped within my own body, my own head. I didn’t realize anything was wrong for a few moments, but… well, the nasty thoughts towards Marinette clued me in that something was off, and once those thoughts transformed into actions...”

‘Alya’ shuddered. “Things were fine at first, when I was just walking with Lila. Until the subject turned to Marinette anyway. Something niggled at me once the whole penguin sweater thing came up, but I couldn’t place it. 

Then a thought came to trip her down the stairs. And when I balked, it started to sound more like a command than my own thoughts. I was still able to stop it, but… barely.

But it just kept going. If I hadn’t been able to force myself away-“

She let out a small sob.

Outwardly Alya gave her counterpart a hug and a small, hopefully reassuring smile. Though considering how forced it was, she wasn’t sure whether it did the job. 

Inside she seethed. This… this thing, this compulsion, this controlling entity had no right. And just… why? Why did this thing want her to hurt Marinette so badly?

The violence, the bullying… just… why?

And why the focus around Marinette?

Every world so far had revolved around her in some way, either with her as the main victim or as the main perpetrator. Or both. 

Granted, Adrien showed up too, but… he didn’t seem to be focused on to the same extent. 

Was Marinette being targeted for some reason? 

“We’re going to figure this out.”

Alya snapped out of it, turning towards the speaker.

Marinette stood in the alleyway, a fire in her eyes. “I’m tired of seeing my friends warped. I’m tired of seeing them controlled. And I’m especially tired of seeing it done using my face!”

Done using her-

Ah.

So she’d picked up on it too.

“…Huh?”

So ‘Alya’ hadn’t noticed. Unsurprising. She’d had other things to concentrate on.

“That ‘Marinette’, that supposed version of me… she acted strangely. She seemed upset when you managed to fight off against the worse compulsions trying to control you. And considering previous experience… well I’m pretty suspicious.”

‘Alya’ mouthed ‘what happened-‘, then shook herself. “…Maybe you guys should come home with me and explain.”

* * *

  
  


“So none of this is real?”

Alya nodded. “Well, so far as we know.”

“That explains my memories at least,” ‘Alya’ muttered. “I remember doing all this awful stuff to Marinette and being a complete sycophant to Lila, but… none of it feels real. Like it’s something I read about or maybe saw in a show, not something I actually did.”

She stared at her hands. “Which means the first time I’ve actually had a chance to fight back against this THING was today.”

“And you did great.”

She looked up at Nino.

“Don’t you see?” he continued. “Even with all this made-up backstory, even with it controlling your body, you still realized something was wrong and fought back. And you WON.”

She glanced to the side. “Yeah, but only barely. And only by forcing my feet to walk away. What if- what if I CAN’T next time?! Or- or if it’s able to reassert control over me?!”

“Then I’ll fight for you. Wouldn’t be the first time. I WON’T abandon you.”

Alya chuckled. That was for sure. It was one reason she was so easily able to figure out his secret identity; Nino disappearing while she was in danger? Not likely. He’d fought Anansi for her, stayed with her after she was infected by Zombizou, even tried to talk her out of the Dark Cupid infection.

If she was in danger, even if she WAS the danger, Nino would still be there for her.

…Though at some point they may need to have the whole ‘I’d rather you save yourself than go down with me’ talk. She’d delayed it since she figured it’d be useless. Marinette had tried a similar talk on Adrien after taking a blow from an akuma for her once again, which to the surprise of no one, didn’t seem to have changed his stubbornness about making sure she stayed alive, uninjured, and uncaptured, even at his own expense. But hey, at least she made an effort.

It was weird to see Nino addressing this version of herself as being her, but… well, she was, wasn’t she? Even now, while it was weird, it felt more like an out-of-body experience than him talking to someone separate. Not that she was actually experiencing what her counterpart did. It just felt like everything she was saying, everything that was going on with her, applied to herself as well. 

Almost like… almost like an empathic bond, but the feelings themselves didn’t exactly transmit? It was hard to explain. 

Which come to think of it-

“There’s another reason why everything before we arrived felt unreal,” she told ‘Alya’

Luckily, she took the revelation of what they believed to be her true nature rather well. She’d even looked a little relieved.

“Better than being entirely manufactured for this mess of a world,” she said, grimacing. 

The explanation of how ‘Marinette’ had been acting, along with the more in-depth explanation of what all of them had been through so far prompted more discussion. 

“So what’s the theory then?” she asked, sipping on some hot cocoa. It wasn’t that cold outside, but after what she’d been through? She deserved some comfort. 

Not that she was the only one. They’d all scrounged up some warm, fluffy blankets to arrange into a nest along with hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies for everyone.

The food was delicious, exactly how she remembered – EXACTLY how she remembered. They’d all had a quick discussion and come to the conclusion that they were tasting what they expected it to taste like, rather than what it actually would taste like. Which explained why she, Nino, and Marinette, who’d all had a decent amount of delicious cookies over the past few years, tasted normal, but really good cookies. They probably wouldn’t have noticed anything remiss if Adrien hadn’t complained of not being able to pin down the flavor or texture of the cookie; it’d been years since he’d had a chocolate chip cookie, so his memories weren’t as fresh.

Something which Marinette had already promised to rectify when they got back home. She had a feeling they’d all be pulled into a baking lesson – while Marinette and Adrien enjoyed time alone together, something like baking was often more fun all together. They’d had some experience with it anyway, with Sabine recruiting her and Adrien to help with the bakery when Tom fell ill.

It might’ve been a little crowded at times, but it’d been fun!

“My best guess is that that ‘Marinette’,” Marinette put air-quotes around her name, “might be partly responsible for whatever was going on with you. Or at least, benefitting from it somehow.”

‘Alya’ frowned. “That would explain some things, like why getting away from her caused that controlling entity to release. Though Lila was also there.”

Hm. She had a point.

“Lila’s acting pretty normal though,” Marinette cut in. “But then again, she already acts like these messed-up versions of people. Huh. Come to think of it, she also has a similar weird hold on people. Well at first anyway. So maybe she just didn’t need to be altered that much to fit in with this world?”

Actually-

“Is it just me, or does the messed-up version of Marinette remind you of Lila, but like, on steroids? Especially in the last world.”

Marinette blinked, then grimaced. “That… actually makes a lot of sense. She had a similar focus on everyone needing to worship her, and along with the pure vindictiveness she had towards Adrien, it was pretty reminiscent of Lila’s vendetta against you, me, and Ladybug.”

“Maybe Lila’s not actually Lila and she’s just some version of whatever this entity controlling and twisting people is? Like a weaker version.”

She laughed. “That’d certainly make her easier to take care of. I think we’re stuck with her, unfortunately.”

‘Alya’ frowned. “Putting that aside, what’s the plan? How do we get out of here?”

Marinette sat back, putting her hand on her chin. “Well Chat was able to break out when he was able to lay out what was wrong with that messed up ‘Ladybug’, and before that we were all able to break out when we figured out what was wrong with the worlds we were in and rejected them. That’ll be a little more difficult this time around with how this thing keeps trying to control you.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. “You were able to fend it off a little right? Not just by fighting directly, but by modifying it?”

‘Alya’ slowly nodded. “I was able to tone down some of the speech the thing wanted me to say even when I wasn’t able to stop it completely. So long as it was still within the ballpark of what it wanted me to do or say, it released a little.”

Light dawned in her eyes. “So maybe if I can work around it a little, go after the problems and inconsistencies in a way that’s not _directly_ against what it wants me to do, it might loosen up enough for me to strike the final blow!”

Marinette smiled and nodded. “That might work! Do you know how you could do that though?”

‘Alya’ slowly smiled, gears seeming to turn in her head. “You know, I think I have an idea…”

  
  


‘Alya’ approached the school steps. Or rather, Rena; talks concerning both herself and her counterpart had gotten confusing a few times, until her counterpart had suggested that one of them take the name ‘Rena’ while the other stuck with ‘Alya’.

She’d been more than happy to take ‘Rena’, especially after finding out Ladybug and Chat’s secret identities. Well, more like rediscovering them. As soon as they mentioned it, the knowledge just kind of slotted in, like she’d known it for a long time but had gotten buried and just called to the surface again.

It’d just felt right. She hadn’t been called on to be Rena Rouge again since Heroes Day in this reality. Which made a lot more sense after finding out who Ladybug was (well, finding out again, she guessed).

Being called Rena by everyone? Having that affirmation that she was part of the team, part of their group? It’d made her feel like she belonged.

But Marinette calling her by that name had meant the most to her. She’d been the one to give her the ability to be Rena Rouge, to have chosen her as the first new Miraculous wielder. Giving her the Fox Miraculous may not have been possible right now, but she’d given her something else; her trust, her confidence, her belief that she could do this.

Marinette had chosen her to be a hero.

She wanted to live up to that.

The five of them spent the rest of the evening and night chatting and goofing, then finally going to sleep. Her parents and siblings never came home. No message explaining where they were either. They’d speculated that since they weren’t very important to this world, to this narrative it seemed to be building up, they just… weren’t there. At least, not yet. Like how a video game engine might render smaller background elements in less detail than larger, more important elements, or only render them as backdrops – at least, until the player got closer.

Speaking of video games, fortunately hers and Nino’s favorite dancing game still worked here. Only the songs they’d played a few times, but luckily that was most of them. They’d competed against Adrien and Marinette, beating them narrowly, experience winning out. She had a feeling that if they got an opportunity to practice more she and Nino would have quite a fight on their hands keeping the top spot. She and Nino had experience and moves, but the level of coordination between Adrien and Marinette was unreal.

They’d ended up dragging their blanket nest to the living room once they figured out her family likely wasn’t going to make an appearance. Technically everyone could cram into her bedroom, but it was a little tight for all five of them to sleep in there, especially if they needed to go to the bathroom.

Which they apparently didn’t? It took awhile for any of them to notice, but none of them had felt the need to do so the entire time they’d been there. No one felt hungry or thirsty exactly either, though eating and drinking were still comforting even if it didn’t appear to be a bodily necessity.

Sleep DID appear to be necessary. Everyone’s eyes had started drooping around 10 pm, none worse than Adrien’s. Part of that may’ve been an excuse to lay down and cuddle Marinette while purring up a storm though.

Smiling at the memory, she turned into the classroom.

Immediately her smile died.

The entity, the compulsion - whatever it was - had returned.

 _Do you see that bully, that two-faced slime?_ It whispered. _She’s evil. You should let her know exactly how much you despise her. You know she deserves it._

She wasn’t about to fall into its trap.

She’d play its game, but by her own rules.

Her feet took her towards ‘Marinette’, towards her usual seat.

‘Marinette’ looked away from her coldly.

Then she stood up and made her way over to Chloe, sliding into the seat next to her.

Huh.

Where’d Sabrina go?

Unbidden, her feet took her over to ‘Marinette’ and Chloe.

 _Rip them to shreds,_ the voice said. _She’s evil, and she’s proven it by siding with Chloe. You can do anything you want to them, say anything you want, and they’ll deserve it._

It wanted her to destroy them, huh?

It probably meant in a similar way to before, trying to hurt and damage ‘Marinette’ emotionally and physically.

But she had other plans.

So long as it still appeared hostile and anti-Marinette, or anyone on her side, maybe it’d work?

“So you’re taking Sabrina’s place, huh?” she said testily.

For a moment she was afraid the compulsion, the entity would force her to add something unintended to that; but it seemed to accept her declaration, at least for now.

Hopefully she could keep it like that. Maybe not fully satisfied, but not perturbed to the point it took over and forced her to act against her will – at least until it’d weakened enough for her to strike.

“At least Chloe never _pretended_ to be my friend! At least she was honest!” ‘Marinette’ shot back.

She could see the argument. Easier to befriend someone who’d never been on your side than someone you’d once been close to and who’d then turned on you. And to be fair Chloe’d shown some small signs of being able to do better.

But there were flaws in that logic.

“Why though?” she asked, looking at Chloe. “You’ve been mistreating all of us, sometimes for years, and one of your closest ‘friends’ worst of all. Why is it only now that you’re okay with Marinette?”

Chloe scoffed. “At least I don’t worship some liar. And I can still tell who’s the REAL bully.”

“But why you above-“

She choked.

_What are you doing?! What are you even trying to say?! Criticizing Chloe for being too nice?_

Ok so she couldn’t go in that directly, not while implying so heavily that her defending ‘Marinette’ was a good thing.

So what negative thing-

Sabrina.

That was it!

It hadn’t stopped her talking about Sabrina before, so maybe-

“And what about Sabrina? You know, your closest ‘friend’? The one who does your homework, covers for you, steals for you, provides anything you need, and yet you repay with verbal abuse?”

Chloe glared at her. “She’s honored to serve me. She loves me!”

“What’re you trying to say, Alya?” ‘Marinette’ cut in. “It’s not like you’re any better. We used to be friends, but you threw me away the second someone came along who seemed shinier, more interesting, more powerful. I gave so much of myself to you, but now you just hurl insults on Lila’s say-so.”

Not in the regular universe; unfortunately she couldn’t say that just yet. Too direct. Too soon.

“Why do you think Chloe will treat you better than she does Sabrina? And if you’re comparing me to Chloe, or I guess to Sabrina if I’m supposedly Lila’s lackey… what gives Chloe a pass?”

_What does this have to do with anything? Tear into Marinette! Tear into Chloe! What’re you waiting for?!_

She suppressed a smile. The voice might be making demands, but it was a little quieter, a little less compelling than it was before.

Chloe stood up, shoving herself in Rena’s face. “Now listen here Cesaire. I can recognize the talent you threw away, misused, mistreated! You might not have fully appreciated Marinette, but I DO. Finally, she has friends who recognize what she truly deserves.

That’s what makes me different. I know the worth of the people around me. And you? YOU are worthless.”

Well even in these circumstances, Chloe was still at least somewhat Chloe.

But as for the rest of it-

“But that’s the thing! Those descriptors of how I supposedly treated Marinette better match how you treat Sabrina. And you never cared much about Marinette even after she helped with your mom. So why’re you the one who defends Marinette above anyone else? It’s almost like-“

_STOP. PUNCH HER. RIP UP HER STUFF. SCREAM AT HER. HURT HER._

She bit her tongue.

The compulsion, the entity, had run out of patience.

But it wasn’t as powerful as it used to be; she could feel the undertone of fear in its commands.

And she was NOT about to let it puppet her around again.

She ground out, “It’s almost like you and I swapped.”

A ripple ran through her body.

Her jaw unclenched slightly.

The entity had faded to a whisper.

She straightened up, looking ‘Marinette’ straight in the eyes. “Chloe being the one who recognizes bullying and stands up to it? Sabrina seeming to almost disappear when convenient? All while everyone else descends into really toxic relationships, becoming sycophants who do whatever Lila says, no matter how hurtful? It doesn’t make sense! Chloe’s been getting better but that doesn’t mean she’s suddenly one of the only people in class with a moral compass, especially when she’s STILL treating Sabrina as badly as ever, treating her the way everyone else has been contorted into treating you!”

Looking up, she gazed at the rest of the class. “And with everyone else; would this really happen? None of us are perfect. All of us have our off days. But this sustained bullying of a friend? Badmouthing her, pushing her out, even trying to hurt her or damage her stuff? Even with Chloe who we’ve all actually experienced bullying, none of us did worse than avoid her or make a few comments and we still helped her when she was in trouble like when Zombizou came after her! No matter what lies we might be told, we wouldn’t be this callous, this hurtful, this openly malicious.”

‘Marinette’ glared at her, her face stony. 

Rena breathed in one last time, and gave the final blow. “THIS. ISN’T. REAL.”

The world shattered and dissolved, breaking apart into small particles. ‘Marinette’ broke last, expression unchanging.

A tingling went up her spine, followed by a light, floaty feeling. For a moment she started to panic.

Memories surged through her mind. 

"Before this past year, I've never been very confident. I was always kinda a screw-up. But you gave me HOPE, Alya. I meant it when I said that Ladybug thinks you're cool. You INSPIRED me, Alya."

“You might not come up with the super complicated plans that Ladybug does, but you can do them your own way. You’ve got this.”

A moment later her body felt solid again as she reconciled two - no, three sets of memories; the ones the false world had created for her, as well as the two sets of memories from her adventures while she was split apart.

“Disorienting isn’t it?” Adrien asked.

She nodded as he helped her off the floor.

Looking at her friends, she smiled.

These worlds may be trying to break and remake them. 

But they’d forge through nonetheless.

She knew who she was.

And no entity was going to change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to cover the whole "making Alya violent and malicious and a bully in order to have her victimize Marinette" thing more. Especially since... well... unlike with Adrien bashing which has several distinct categories (heck Adrien and Chat are bashed for some pretty different things) Alya bashing resides on more of a continuum, with what I'd argue is the WORST of it being the "hurting Marinette" stage. Oftentimes Marinette's just her hapless victim during this part, though that sometimes changes later; sometimes she at least ACTS kind of like canon Marinette would in that situation and doesn't have a complete personality transplant, in which case either her protection squad does the dirty deed of enacting revenge or she moves away or commits suicide, in which cases the revenge is meted out via the guilt breaking Alya or by family/friends/law enforcement coming after her for being so awful to Marinette. Though for the moving away plotline, I think it's often more "Alya learns that everything good and fun and pure came because of Marinette and without her she is nothing and everything falls apart."
> 
> Even in the cases where Marinette HERSELF isn't warped much, if the people around her are warped, contorted, made into people they aren't in order to promotes this whole "Marinette Deserves Better" mindset by importing or exaggerating negative qualities into them... well... that's still only slightly better. 
> 
> I wanted to cover how Alya WOULD NOT DO this stuff; she seems to be used more as a puppet or a stand-in for the character the author wants or needs for the story, this traitorous, violent, malicious, sycophantic (to the wrong person) former friend. Alya's name and appearance are used for this, but her personality is scrubbed out and replaced. Hence why she's controlled so tightly here; this part of the storyline in a lot of Alya bashing fics wouldn't work if it was derived from things that were within the realm of what she might do canonically, of how she's been shown to act.
> 
> I also wanted to cover the whole "replace Alya's role with Chloe" thing that crops up a lot. I like a good Chloedemption but when it's done while making the 'good' characters fill in for her role as a bully while she just magically becomes better? It doesn't work and comes off as very hypocritical.
> 
> I understand where some of the general idea came from. Chloe was hot off the heels of the Queen's Battle arc and Heroes Day when Chameleon aired and with Lila's threat about turning Marinette's friends against her combined with Alya being receptive to Lila's lies? There was a certain amount of narrative sense.
> 
> It's really when Alya became more and more warped into someone she wasn't along with canon showing that while she may buy some of Lila's lies to a limited capacity but yet won't leave Marinette high and dry and CERTAINLY won't try to intentionally hurt her that that plotline became grating. 
> 
> Doesn't help that well... all the accusations I hear about Alya being a terrible friend to Marinette... even in a lot of saltfics, the ones that don't go so far as to have her try to physically harm Marinette, that fits how Chloe treats Sabrina or even Adrien far, far, FAR better than how Alya treats Marinette (seriously the Alyanette friendship is great and I love their relationship). If Chloe tried to show Marinette what a "better" friendship was like by treating Marinette the same way she treats Sabrina... well there's a reason I've never seen that done.
> 
> ANYWAY, I wanted to pour as much sugar as I could onto Alya. She needs love and comfort and appreciation and for nice things to happen to her.


	9. Chapter 9

The four of them walked through the door once more.

They’d all had enough of a break in the last world, they hadn’t needed more than a few minutes to catch their breath, just long enough for Alya to explain what her counterpart did to break out of that world.

Chloe being ‘Marinette’s’ best bud wasn’t even a surprise at this point. Why not? Made as much sense as anything else. At least that was conceivably possible in the future (well. Her being good friends with Marinette in any case. He couldn’t see either Alya or Adrien being supplanted in the ‘best friend’ slot), though probably not anytime soon.

Wait.

Something was different about the journey this time, the travel through the door. 

Normally it was nearly instantaneous, so what…?

A ripping sensation ran through Nino’s body. It didn’t hurt exactly. It was almost like someone was tugging on his arm, except with the arm just… separating. Pulling off. Obviously not literally, but that was the closest he could come to describing it.

Suddenly he was in school. Blinking, he looked around.

He hadn’t fallen? Every other time he’d transported between worlds, he’d been deposited in a heap.

Actually, where WERE the rest of them? They’d gone through the door together, shouldn’t they arrive together as well?

Unless…

Marinette rounded the corner.

But not with Adrien and Alya in tow.

No; instead, she was chatting with-

Wait, really?

Nathaniel and Chloe? 

Those two weren’t exactly known for getting along. Heck Chloe’s mocking had helped drive Nathaniel to being akumatized, and the Evillustrator had tried to kill her in return.

Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly like Nathaniel was alone in that, but still. There’d never been much hint of them having any desire to hang out with each other.

And Chloe with Marinette? They could cooperate on occasion and Marinette had reached out to her, but… well, this didn’t bode well, especially considering the previous world.

The only ones that DID make sense were Nathaniel and Marinette. She loved reading through his and Marc’s fancomics and had even made a few recent suggestions.

He and Rena were looking forward to seeing Carapace and Rena Rouge appear in the comics; a little weird seeing themselves from an outside perspective in a fictional adventure, but interesting! 

As Marinette spotted him, her nose wrinkled, expression going flat.

But he didn’t need to see her expression to tell how she was feeling.

Because he felt it too.

A wave of distaste and an undercurrent of burning, sadistic glee swept through him.

He sucked in a breath.

Well if there was any doubt that this WASN’T Marinette, that it was an imposter again, it was gone now. 

But why? This didn’t sound like the compulsion the others had described feeling. He wasn’t being urged to DO anything, he was just a passive observer, and he knew it came from an outside source, not anything internal.

This whole place had always reacted weirdly to him though, didn’t seem to have the same level of control over him as with the others.

Did it just not care about controlling him as much? He didn’t seem to get nearly as much focus in these scenarios as the others, though he was still sometimes present, like in Alya’s nightmare world. 

Hm. Maybe… though it could be more than that. Fu’d lived so long in part because of the protections the Turtle Miraculous had given him. Maybe some of that protection applied to Nino now as well, since he received it permanently? He didn’t have it on right now, but it wasn’t like Fu was going to just wither and die without the Miraculous, its protections extended beyond when it was just being worn.

Whatever the cause, he wasn’t vulnerable to the compulsion.

He could use this. Especially with the new empathic ability.

So far they’d just been wandering from world to world, hoping to stumble upon a clue of what to do to escape.

Maybe it was time to be a little less reactive and a little more proactive.

“What’re you going to do to me this- wait, where’re you going?”

He continued walking away, ignoring her. A stab of annoyance went through him, along with shock.

Then he got out of range and took off.

* * *

Time to find the others.

“Hey Marinette!”

She turned towards him. “What? You’re not gonna run off this time? Was it too intimidating to bully me with others around, so you come back an hour later when I’m alone?”

He smirked. “Something like that.”

Adrien, Alya, and the real Marinette emerged around ‘Marinette’, along with another version of himself. He’d started to suspect that he was the split-off this time, what with the ripping sensation, and hadn’t been surprised to discover that was indeed the case.

‘Marinette’s’ eyes narrowed. “What is this?” 

“We want to know who you are, what your intentions are, and more importantly, how to get out of here,” Carapace replied. 

While agreeing on a course of action, they’d decided that he ought to take lead on the interrogation, since he could sense ‘Marinette’s’ feelings when he was within range, and could hopefully tell whether she was lying or planning something.

Right now she seemed agitated and frustrated, but not scared. 

Unsurprising. None of them had powers right now, while she probably retained the ability to transform into Ladybug. If she tried to overpower them, there was a decent chance she’d be able to.

Though he hoped if it came to that, he’d be able to shatter the world himself and move them to the next world, whatever that may be. Without having received whatever backstory he was supposed to have, without having whatever issue to work through, maybe it’d work?

It was a long shot, but the best he had.

Besides, if she’d wanted him dead, if this world had really wanted them gone… well, they’d been without powers this entire time. It wouldn’t have been that difficult.

No, there was something else behind all this. Getting rid of them wasn’t the goal.

“Why are we here? What do you want from us?”

“I don’t know what you’re-”

“Don’t bother lying. I can feel when you do.”

“Tsk.” She dropped the facade. “I just want to show you how the world really is, and how it SHOULD be. Adrien caring about Marinette’s feelings? Being allowed feelings of his own? Alya being okay with Lila and NOT trampling all over Marinette, being friends with both? The class being kind and considerate? Oh, please. Any slight against Marinette, against me, is worth retaliation, any hint of dissent or wrongdoing means that anything done to them is justified. And if I need to nudge people a little to show their true nature, so what? I’m just exposing the awfulness they keep locked up inside.”

“And that’s why you dragged us in here?!”

He frowned. “Also, what do you mean about Alya being okay with Lila? They HATE each other!”

She tilted her head. “That was more of a bonus. I only actually intended to capture Marinette. Everyone else… well, I made do.”

She grimaced. “Didn’t exactly go to plan. With being split four ways instead of just one, I lost track of Marinette right at first and she got diverted elsewhere. I was able to pull her back once she broke out at least, he’s not as strong as he once was.”

“Who-?”

She waved him off. “Doesn’t matter. You four have thwarted me long enough. Clearly as long as she’s with the rest of you, I’m not going to get anywhere.”

OH CRAP.

“MARINETTE, WATCH OUT!”

With blinding speed, the doppelganger launched herself at Marinette. They both winked out.

The world shattered once again, Carapace and Nino fusing back together, and dumping them into a white room as usual.

But with two major differences.

There was no exit door.

And Marinette was gone.


	10. Marinette vs. Saltinette: Chameleon Edition

Marinette struggled against her copy’s grip, finally forcing her way free - but it was too late.

Instead of a grassy park they stood in a black void, seemingly floating on nothing.

Her heart stopped.

If they weren’t with her-!

“What did you DO to them?!”

‘Marinette’ stared back coldly. “Why do you care so much? It took Adrien literally seeing that you were Ladybug for him to figure out that he supposedly ‘loved’ you. He let Lila and Chloe get away with their actions instead of exposing Lila and controlling Chloe. Alya had the nerve - the NERVE! - to say that we might be jealous of Lila. And she said to check her sources BUT DIDN’T DO SO HERSELF. And Nino - well, he  _ specifically _ hasn’t done much, but the whole class - except Adrien I guess, but that makes him not exposing Lila even WORSE - fell under Lila’s spell including him, and he didn’t stop the rest of the class from treating you like crap!”

...Huh?

What the hell?

Most of it was just a bad spin on what’d happened, but some of that was entirely false. 

“What do you mean about Alya checking sources? And Nino and Alya didn’t fall in line with Lila! Not after she came back to class at least.”

Her copy snorted. “Oh right. You’re not from that universe, so you wouldn’t know.”

“That universe?”

Did she mean one of these manufactured worlds?

“The universe you come from is an offshoot, a reflection, of the Source universe. It separated off when your friends learned each other’s secret identities and has been steadily diverging ever since. In the Source universe, Lila’s return went a little differently.”

She conjured up a screen, showing Marinette arriving late in school one day to find the seating arrangement changed, but…

This wasn’t right.

“Why did so many people move?”

‘Marinette’ put a hand to her lips. “You’ll see.”

_ Marinette looked at Alya questioningly. “At the back? Why? What's going on?” _

_ Nino leaned over, answering her. “Well since she's got a hearing issue, there's no way she can sit at the back of the class, right? Which means she needed a place up in the front.” _

_ Which was when Alya took over, “So to make it work Ivan sat next to Mylene, Nate sat next to Alix, besides she came up with the idea of moving Nino here, so now we get to spend more time together.” _

No wonder Alya’d agreed to it; it gave everyone what they wanted seemingly, besides possibly Marinette. Being at the back of the class wasn’t the end of the world by any means, but not getting to be with her friends would’ve sucked.

“You see?” ‘Marinette’ hissed. “They didn’t care. So long as everyone got to spend time with their partners or friends, you being left alone didn’t matter. She didn’t even seem to consider your feelings, just assuming you’d be okay with it!”

Well… she wasn’t totally wrong. But-

“Someone would’ve had to sit alone.”

“But why did it have to be YOU?”

She sighed. It didn’t have to be her. It could’ve been anyone with the way so much of the classroom had been reshuffled. But everyone else had at least conceivably had the chance to provide input, while she-

“Because I was the one who was late. Everything needed to be reshuffled by the time Lila arrived so she’d have a place to sit. 

Would I have preferred if someone had volunteered to give up their seat with their friend instead? Yes. But they have as much right to sit with the people they want as I do.”

‘Marinette’ growled at her. “This is US we’re talking about though! Not THEM!”

Seriously?

“What difference does that make?”

“We deserve better!”

She waved her hand, causing the scene to continue playing. “Maybe the rest of this will persuade you of their horribleness, of their utter irredeemability.”

_ “Who is this ‘she’?” Marinette asked.  _

_ Just then Ms. Bustier entered the classroom, a familiar - and unwelcome - figure behind her.  _

_ “Good morning, students. I'm sure you've all heard by now, but Lila's home from her trip to Achu and she's back in school with us again.” _

“Yippee,” Marinette muttered.

_ “Hi everyone!” Lila waved at the rest of the class. _

_ “Hi Lila!” the class greeted her back. _

_ “Oh, a seat in the front row! You all remembered my hearing issue! You're such sweethearts, all of you.” _

“Those gullible IDIOTS actually believed her!” ‘Marinette’ seethed. “No paperwork. No questioning of her needs. She just says she has a hearing issue and everyone rushes to accommodate her. They should’ve demanded to see documentation before making you move! Should have viewed any request with suspicion and treated her like the LYING FRAUD SHE IS!”

Ok now THAT was a step too far. She could see being incensed at the time, knowing she was almost certainly faking it, but from an outside perspective?

“Demanding proof of a disability in order to justify such a small accommodation? I know she was faking, but… they didn’t. What if she HAD been telling the truth?”

“But she wasn’t!”

“They didn’t know that.”

“Well they should have!”

“Would you demand every student have paperwork on the first day back to class?”

“Just for Lila.”

“That’s not how this works.”

‘Marinette’ glared at her, playing the video again.

_ “You have a hearing problem, Lila?” Marinette asked suspiciously, arms crossed. _

_ “Yes, I suffer from tinnitus, a constant ringing in my left ear. I've had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my eardrum on the runaway when I was saving Jagged Stone's lost kitten.” _

_ “Isn’t Jagged Stone’s pet a crocodile?” _

_ “Now it is, yes. But he had a kitten until he found out he was allergic to it.” _

_ Lila turned towards Adrien. “The best part is, since you're such an excellent student, Adrien, you'll be able to help me catch up with all the schoolwork I missed while I was traveling with my parents. Would you do that for me?” _

Ugh. She hated the subtle manipulation Lila used on Adrien there. Just ‘assuming’ he’d help her, acting like it was a given, and only then ‘asking’? Not leaving much room for him to say no.

Her lies were mediocre, but her manipulation worked.

_ “Sure, Lila”, Adrien agreed. _

_ Marinette turned to Miss Bustier. “Miss Bustier, why do I have to sit in the back now?” _

_ “Do you have any trouble hearing or seeing, Marinette?”  _

_ “Uh, I… I…” _

She winced. It must’ve sucked being put on the spot like that. But she had a point.

“You see! Even Miss Bustier’s targeting you!”

“She had to send someone to the back,” Marinette pointed out tiredly. “And they probably wouldn’t have been happy about it either.”

_ Adrien stood up. “My eyesight and hearing are good. I'll sit in the back of the class and you two can sit up front. I don't mind.” _

She perked up. Seriously? Adrien would willingly volunteer to separate from his friends, from some of the little time he had with them, just in order to help her? 

Her heart warmed at the thought. She’d never ask Adrien to do that, wouldn’t want to be responsible for decreasing what little opportunity he had to spend time with his friends, but it was still sweet. 

_ “No!” Marinette and Lila both shouted. _

_ Adrien looked at them, seeming taken aback. _

Ah. So he hadn’t picked up on the true cause of their conflict. His solution would’ve worked fine if the cause of their disagreement was really about seating position. But it wasn’t.

It was about who got to sit near Adrien, and in her own case, near Alya as well.

_ Lila looked down sadly. “My return is causing so much trouble, maybe I should have just stayed on the other side of the world. If Marinette has an issue too, then I should be the one to go and sit in the back. It's okay.” _

Really laying it on thick huh? But if she hadn’t known about Lila’s penchant for lying already, she would’ve thought she was sincere.

The class glaring at her after Lila’s sad statement hurt, but she could see why they did. Making a fellow classmate feel bad for no apparent reason wasn’t looked well upon. It must’ve seemed pretty odd to her classmates that she’d be so adamant about this; from what they knew of her, it didn’t fit.

The on-screen Marinette started some damage control.

_ “I don't actually have any trouble seeing or hearing. I mean…” _

_ “Good, so there's no problem then. You sit here, Lila, Adrien, you stay where you are and, Marinette, you sit in the back row.” _

_ Marinette trudged to her new seat, away from her friends. _

“They ABANDONED you! Abandoned us! Isolated us! All for that  _ snake _ Lila. They cared more about making sure that this new girl wasn’t going to be at a disadvantage because of a supposed disability than about our feelings! How DARE they!”

“...that really doesn’t sound so flattering out loud you know.”

‘Marinette’ growled at her. “Oh that’s not the end of it. Just look at what happened at lunch! Alya wasn’t the one going after Lila in the Source universe; YOU were, and without backup!”

_ A group of Marinette’s classmates gathered around Lila, bringing her food. _

_ “That’s for you Lila!” _

_ “Thank you, you’re so sweet!” _

_ “Here’s your appetizer Lila!” _

_ “And I’ve got your main course!” _

_ “I’ll fetch your dessert!” _

_ Lila looked around at everyone bringing her food. “I’m sorry I can’t carry my own tray. It’s almost impossible with this sprained wrist.” _

Marinette rolled her eyes. Well so far it was pretty much the same as in her own universe. She was glad her classmates were so kind and helpful to someone supposedly in need, but it was really grating to see Lila take advantage of them like that.

_ Kim reached between herself and Alya for some food. “Sorry,” _

_ Marinette looked at Alya and Nino. “Lila's totally lying. She made up that whole tinnitus story just so she could sit next to Adrien, and her sprained wrist's completely bogus, too.” _

_ Alya just seemed confused. “I don't get it, Marinette. You barely know Lila. Why all the hate?” _

Funny to see Alya defending Lila considering she hated her more than anyone in their own universe, but with her not knowing Lila was a liar? It made sense. It really looked like she was out to get Lila for no apparent reason.

_ “Fine, I'll tell you everything.” Marinetted dragged Alya and Nino to a separate table, away from the others. “You remember Lila when she first came to school right after the summer break? She was only here for one day and then she left on that 'round-the-world trip. Everyone was captivated by her. Something just felt off to me. So I followed her.” _

...Oooh. 

Well THAT certainly wasn’t going to convince them she was on the up-and-up with her motives. 

She’d had better reasons for following them in reality of course, with needing to retrieve the Miraculous Grimoire and with Lila lying about her personally, saying she was friends with Ladybug, but leaving out those details?

It really did sound like she was out to get Lila for reasons that weren’t all that rational.

And with Lila flirting with Adrien and Alya already knowing that she could go a little overboard regarding him…

Somehow she didn’t think this would end with Alya and Nino agreeing with her.

_ “What?!” Alya and Nino replied, shocked. _

_ “She lies with every breath!” _

_ Nino frowned. “Wait. You eavesdropped on Lila and Adrien? That's not cool.” _

_ Alya took a more analytical approach. “A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove she doesn't actually know Ladybug?” _

She winced. Following someone and eavesdropping on them in order to dig up dirt on them based on no actual evidence? Definitely didn’t sound great.

At least Alya was still willing to listen so long as she could provide evidence to back up her assertion. She didn’t dismiss her claims out of hand.

Unfortunately she couldn’t give that evidence, not right then at least. 

Though she could always appear as Ladybug and tell Alya what went down between her and Lila. Maybe use the excuse that she happened by the bakery and Marinette told her everything? Wouldn’t be the first time she’d used her civilian identity to set up a meeting between her superhero identity and Alya.

‘Marinette’ turned to her, grinning triumphantly. “See? SEE?! She insisted on us providing evidence, on verifying our sources, but didn’t do that with Lila when she posted her interview before! She’s a hypocrite and a bad reporter by her own admission.”

That was a little much. Yes Alya should have checked before posting that interview and what she was saying here didn’t match up to her actions before, but that went too far.

“Alya just got a little carried away that time. It happens, especially with wanting it to be true so badly.” 

“But she’s a HYPOCRITE! And she used that hypocrisy against US! How can you be okay with being friends with her?!”

“She only asked to make sure my statement - or well, that Marinette’s statement I guess - was based on facts and not an assumption. You seriously think it’s worth breaking a friendship over?”

“I think it’s worth destroying all her relationships and future prospects over. Seriously, what reporter insists on checking sources and then doesn’t check with her own source?! She should be exiled from the industry forever, her reputation in tatters, harassed nonstop on the streets and on the web and she’d DESERVE IT!”

“...She’s fourteen. Also what planet are you living on and do all reporters there adhere to that standard? Because that’s definitely not true of all news organizations here. Retractions exist for a reason.”

“And every adult in her life can see her for the fraud she is and get her arrested for her violent and cruel actions toward us!” 

“When does THAT happen?!”

“Right here! She asked to check our sources! She didn’t believe us without question!”

“And that means she’s  _ violent _ ?!”

“It means that she’s a horrible, abusive enough person that she might as well be!”

...Where did this thought progression even come from. Like, seriously.

_ Marinette stuttered, not sure how to answer Alya’s question without exposing her identity. “Well I–uh… I… I… Okay! You want proof she's lying?” She balled up a nearby napkin. “Hey Lila! You forgot your napkin!” and threw it at her. _

_ Lila caught it with her ‘sprained’ hand. _

_ Marinette pointed at Lila and loudly declared “Ha, ha! See that? It's obvious she doesn't have a sprained wrist.” _

_ The class gasped, turning to look at Lila in dismay. _

_ Lila promptly dropped the napkin, clutching her hand. “Uh, ow! Once when I was in India, I witnessed someone getting their eye gouged out by the corner of a napkin. If I hadn't caught it, this napkin could've injured Max. I didn't have a choice. Ow!” _

Well that had to be the stupidest lie she’d told yet. Max was even wearing glasses, it couldn’t have gotten to his eyes even if that WAS true!

“See?! That proved conclusively that Lila was lying, and they STILL ate up her lies!”

She tried to think of a nice way to phrase this. “That was… definitely dumb, but… well even without that excuse, it wouldn’t prove much. She said her wrist was sprained, not paralyzed, her being able to move it is normal, and catching something thrown at you is just a reflex.”

“But they had the gall to get upset at us afterwards!”

_ Max looked at Lila in awe. “Lila, you saved my eye! You sacrificed yourself for me.” _

_ “Why wouldn't I, Max? Ouch. You're my friend.” _

_ Sabrina spoke up. “We'll take you to the nurse's office.” _

_ Mylene looked over towards Marinette. “Are you proud of yourself?” _

_ Kim took over. “Lila's in even more pain now, all because of you.” _

_ But Lila spoke up, supposedly in Marinette’s defense. “No, no, don't blame Marinette. She was just trying to give me a napkin. Right, Marinette?” _

_ Marinette just stomped away, gritting her teeth and growling. _

“See? SEE?! They turned on us!”

She grimaced. “Yeah, but-”

“YES!” ‘Marinette’ shouted triumphantly. “They’re terrible people just waiting for an opportunity to pounce, to mob us at the slightest sign of noncompliance, to shame us for merely trying to get to the TRUTH! We’ve been with them longer, we’ve helped them so much, and they’d dare take LILA’S side?! They should know that if I do something to hurt someone, OBVIOUSLY they deserve it.”

She did not sound like this. The way her counterpart onscreen acted made sense in the heat of the moment with already being riled up from Lila’s previous actions, but with what her classmates had been privy to?

No. 

They were guilty of being gullible, that much was true.

But with what they saw of her feud with Lila?

She wouldn’t be happy either if she saw someone, even a friend she knew well who was usually kind and compassionate, targeting a new girl who said they had disabilities.

Attempting to publicly ‘expose’ such a girl for supposedly faking them as well as for lying about other things to make herself seem more impressive? If she wasn’t doing it in a blatantly harmful way? Would seem like overkill, like it would have a lot more potential to cause more harm than it would prevent, even if the accuser was right.

Maybe she would’ve approached differently, taking aside the accuser if they were a friend of hers. Ask them more about what was really going on since that behavior wouldn’t fit what she knew of them.

Which looking at it, was pretty much what Alya actually did regarding her beef with Lila; asking her why she hated Lila so much if she barely knew her.

She just couldn’t give Alya a good answer without exposing her secret identity.

Alya and Nino at least didn’t join in with the scolding afterwards. Probably too shocked at what went down. It must’ve been really confusing from their perspective, seeing her lash out like that at someone who from all appearances seemed conciliatory. 

“It would’ve been nice for me if they’d backed me up. If they’d just known I had to have a good reason, even if I couldn’t prove it. 

But it’s not something I’d expect. I’m not infallible, and I wouldn’t want them to target someone on my behalf on just my word that they were bad without backing it up. What if I was the new girl and someone did the same thing to me? Someone who’d been there longer, who was better established, who was popular and even friendly with most other people?”

‘Marinette’ scoffed. “Then a bunch of your new classmates would perceive your inherent worth and crush that bully like the insect they were! Our skill, our strength shines through and while some fools might not perceive it or try to control us for their own sakes, enough of them would see what a shining star we are that they’d fall all over themselves to hang on our every word!”

Yeesh. She really didn’t have much sense of outside perspectives, huh?

Or humility.

Or the world outside herself as a whole.

“You know you sound a lot like Chloe?”

“Good! Chloe can see our REAL worth.”

Maybe that was why her doppelganger liked Chloe so much. They shared a similar attitude.

“You know none of this is convincing me that everyone else’s treatment in those other worlds is remotely justified, right?

‘Marinette’ glared. “I don’t know why not. This is bad enough. But if you really want to see more… well. Lila threatened you in the bathroom in this universe, and unlike in yours, it was JUST us by ourselves. An akuma even threatened us, but we managed to ward it away.

More importantly for this though, Adrien tried to talk to Lila.”

_ Adrien ran into Lila. “Hey Lila.” _

_ Lila immediately started jabbering at him. “Adrien, we'll have to figure when you're gonna help me catch up on all the schoolwork I missed. I also heard you play piano, my uncle's the great pianist Chuch Boroughchuck. He wanted to teach me when I was little, but I had to stop playing because of arthritis. But when my wrist gets better, I'd love for you to give me some lessons.” _

Marinette’s eyes rolled so hard she was surprised they didn’t fall out of the back of her head. That might’ve worked with everyone else, but Adrien knew for a fact that the whole ‘pretending to be related to famous and influential people’ thing was a trick she pulled to lure people in. And she KNEW he knew that. And yet she still thought it’d work? Points for confidence she guessed.

_ Adrien was having none of it, though he wasn’t being confrontational about it either. “Lila, I'm perfectly happy being friends with you, and I'll gladly help you catch on your schoolwork, but please don't lie to me like you did last time with Ladybug.” _

_ “Ladybug’s the liar.” _

_ “I'm not judging you, Lila, but instead of making friends you're going to turn everyone against you. You can tell me if there's something bothering you. I can help. But you need to be honest with me.” _

She smiled. It wouldn’t work with Lila - whatever her issues were, they were too deep for just reaching out a hand in kindness and understanding to work, there needed to be something more - but she admired that he tried. His kindness and understanding, his willingness to reach out were part of the reason she’d fallen in love with him after all. 

The first day she met him - well, met him as a civilian - she’d jumped to conclusions and accused him of something he didn’t do, not letting him explain. But still, he didn’t get upset at her. He just caught up with her later, explaining as sincerely as he could that he didn’t do it, even showing a vulnerable piece of himself to her, telling her how he’d never had friends before, how new it was to him.

In that moment when she’d caught a glimpse of his heart, he’d captured her own.

_ Lila didn’t take it well. “Are you trying to be some superhero lecturing me just like Ladybug did? Well thanks, but no thanks. Ugh.” She stormed off. _

_ Adrien called after her. “I'm still here if you need help catching up with your schoolwork!” _

“Ugh! He was NICE to her. He should’ve called her out for her stunts, for her persecution of us. He should’ve torn her to shreds!”

“Did he even realize she was targeting us? He only saw that bit at the beginning with the seat rearrangement and with how surprised he looked when offering to move to the back instead didn’t work, I don’t think he figured out the true cause of conflict.”

“He should have at least been filled with righteous fury about her lies, same as us! But he lets her get away with them instead!”

She frowned. “Let her get away with them? He asked her not to lie anymore and encouraged her not to.”

“But he didn’t publicly tear her down and expose her in front of everyone!”

“He’s not that sort of person, especially when he doesn’t even know she’s intentionally malicious. It sounds like he honestly just thinks she needs friends.”

‘Marinette’ muttered a bit and fast-forwarded. 

_ The class gathered around Lila again, listening to her tales. _

_ “Of course Ladybug saved my life. She never misses an opportunity to rescue her best friends.” _

_ “Didn't your tinnitus give you vertigo when you went up the Eiffel Tower?” Max asked her inquiringly. _

At least Max was asking questions

_ “Oh no. Ladybug knows me so well that she brought me an earplug to stick in my right ear.” _

_ Watching from several meters away, Marinette perked up “Right ear?! Did she say right ear?! This morning she said that the ringing was in her left ear! I've got her this time!” _

Same as what went down in her own universe then, except she said it instead of Alya. 

And judging by Adrien’s expression, his response was likely to be similar.

_ “Are you going to tell everyone?” _

Yep. She figured as much.

_ Marinette seemed baffled. “'Course I am. Lila is—” _

_ “A liar. Yes, I know. But do you really think exposing her will make things better? If you humiliate her, she'll just be hurt more. Making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy.” _

Not that different from her own universe, but there, she could say his way of thinking was understandable but flawed, considering what he went through with his father. It was just flawed in trying to apply that same mindset to the Lila situation.

Here, she wasn’t sure she could even say it was flawed from what he knew of the situation. He didn’t know she was an active threat, and while she’d told some tall tales and taken advantage of people’s kindness, inconveniencing them, she hadn’t actively, obviously hurt someone that he’d be aware of. In her own universe she'd been afraid of Lila making outlandish promises that hurt people greatly when they fell through, but that never actually came to fruition. She made up stories for prestige, but not much more than that. They were keeping an eye on that situation though, or at least, Alya and Nino were.

_ Lila continued spinning her lies. “Ladybug and I are like two peas in a pod!” _

_ “So we just stand by and let her lie?” _

_ “As long as you and I both know the truth, does it really matter?” _

_ Marinette turned back to look at Lila and smiled, expression softening. “You're right, maybe it's not such a big deal.” _

‘Marinette’ paused the video, her face stormy. “He sided with HER, with just letting her bully and terrorize and even STOPPED US FROM STOPPING HER! HE WAS ACTUALLY OKAY WITH LETTING HER CONTINUE HURTING US AND THE PEOPLE AROUND HER! HE’S THE REASON SHE’S ALLOWED TO RUN FREE! HE HAS THE TOOLS TO STOP HER AND DIDN’T DO IT AND DIDN’T EVEN STEP OUT OF THE WAY AND LET US TRY TO PUBLICLY HUMILIATE AND SHAME HER AGAIN! HIS NEGLIGENCE MAKES HIM RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE HARM SHE COULD CAUSE!”

“I don’t think pointing out the inconsistency with the tinnitus would’ve worked considering how she’s deflected and explained every other inconsistency. It’d probably just made us look bad like in the lunchroom. Plus… well, he still just thinks we’re upset because she’s a liar. He doesn’t know she threatened us. He doesn’t know she’s dangerous.”

She frowned to herself. “And that second bit… what’re you talking about? I mean, I guess maybe if he recounted his first run-in with Lila and my going off on her, MAYBE that’d make people think twice about trusting her, but… that doesn’t mean he’s responsible for what she does. He’s not her keeper. He barely even knows her.”

“BUT HE COULD’VE WEAKENED HER INFLUENCE! HE COULD’VE TOLD EVERYONE THAT LADYBUG WASN’T HER FRIEND AND THAT SHE’S A LIAR!”

Well he could’ve, but-

“And because he didn’t, it makes HIM responsible for everything she does after that, for everything she MIGHT do!”

“...So let me get this straight. Because he didn’t expose her as lying about being Ladybug’s best friend, that means he’s responsible for what she does?”

“Exactly!”

“That still would’ve been a ‘he said, she said’ situation, though with both Adrien and I saying the same thing, I GUESS it would’ve lent more weight to it, but… it still wouldn’t prove we were right, and she could’ve said we misunderstood. We’d both know that was BS, but it’s not like we could prove it.

Plus, if we’re talking about people who had the potential to expose Lila by calling her out on her Ladybug lie, do you know who could’ve ALSO done that? Me. Which I did back when I first met her. It didn’t go well. But I could still do it AGAIN, just transforming later and telling everyone that I’d heard she was lying about my being her friend, and incontrovertibly prove that she’s a fraud. Adrien doing it by talking about what I said would just give her room to wiggle out of it. Ultimately if I really wanted and needed to disprove that she’s my friend, I’M the best one to do that, not Adrien.”

“But it’s his job, it’s EVERYONE’S job to be thinking only of our needs and wants and desires at all points in time, to help and support us and just know that anything we want to do is right no matter what! HE JUST ABANDONED US AND LEFT US OUT TO DRYYYYYY!”

“...Really?”

“Yes!”

Somehow she doubted it.

Also, WOW was her doppelganger narcissistic. Don’t get her wrong, she needed love and support and to be listened to as much as anyone, but the world didn’t revolve around her. 

That was fine. She had plenty of people who cared about her. Her parents. Her friends. Her partner. If they knew she needed it, they were there for her. She may not be literally their only consideration in life, but she was high up on their priority lists. 

_ Everyone filed into the classroom, Marinette taking her new seat at the back of the class.  _

_ Adrien gazed up at her, giving her a fond, loving smile. _

Oh.

Oh she was gonna die.

That LOOK, that SMILE… 

He may not have known she was Ladybug. May not have known he loved her romantically.

But with that look? His heart always knew.

_ He walked up the stairs over to Marinette, who was still in the back row. _

_ “Good for you for taking the high road, Marinette. Hey, it's pretty cool back here.” _

_ He sat down next to her, Marinette grinning at him and giggling. _

“Oh he’s congratulating us on taking the HIGH ROAD, after he EMOTIONALLY BLACKMAILED US INTO IT?! THAT SELF-RIGHTEOUS PRICK! Oh no, I won’t go HIGH. Let’s see how low and dirty I can go. Turnabout’s fair play, and with how awful, how mean, how malicious and cruel everyone was to us, EVERYTHING IS FAIR PLAY.”

...Had her copy watched the same thing play out that she did? 

Seriously, what the hell?

Or maybe she just wanted to hurt everyone else so badly she didn’t care how flimsy the justification was.

Whatever. 

Turning back to the screen, she had to smile. 

In her universe Alya’d arranged it so she and Adrien would sit next to each other.

Here? Adrien just decided that he wouldn’t leave her alone on his own. That he wanted to be with her, to keep her company, to make sure she wasn’t isolated.

She might’ve refused his offer to move before, but that hadn’t stopped him from trying to find some way to make the situation better for her, to keep her from being lonely and isolated like he was for so long.

_ The teacher called several students names, including Marinette’s, but she was so zoned out from her fantasies and anxieties about her and Adrien getting to spend more time together she didn’t notice. _

_ Eventually, Adrien got her attention. _

_ “Marinette, Miss Bustier's called your name three times already.” _

_ “Oh…” she grinned anxiously, giving out a nervous giggle. _

_ “Looks like you have trouble hearing after all, Marinette. Why don't you come sit up here in the front row next to Lila?” Miss Bustier told her. _

So the reason Miss Bustier moved the seats definitely had to do with accessibility then; if a student had trouble hearing, she wanted them closer to help with that even if they hadn’t expressed that need. She was serious in the beginning then when asking her whether she had trouble hearing, it wasn’t some sort of gotcha but a sincere question, and one that prompted her to rethink the seating arrangement when it appeared she did in fact need to be closer to the front of the classroom.

Sucked for that Marinette though, getting to be right next to Adrien and then having it ripped away a minute later. 

_ Marinette trudged dejectedly to the front of the class. _

_ Before she could make it there, Lila raised her hand. “Miss Bustier, this is incredible. My tinnitus, I don't feel it anymore. It's gone. it's a miracle. It must be Ladybug's doing, I can sit in the back now.” _

“That is so STUPID! Miss Bustier should be fired and the rest of the class should be ashamed of themselves for believing something as dumb as that.”

“...Lila’s told some dumb lies, but that isn’t one of them. They don’t know exactly how Ladybug’s magic works. Heck, even I don’t know everything about it. It’s not totally crazy to think that after purifying her, it might’ve cured her tinnitus as well.”

_ Marinette sat in the front, staring down sadly. _

_ Alya put up her hand. “Excuse me, Miss Bustier, can I go and sit next to Marinette? Nino and I can't stop chatting it up.” _

_ Miss Bustier nodded.  _

_ Alya slipped into the seat next to Marinette. “You didn't think I'd let my BFF sit all by herself, did you?” _

“BUT SHE DID! FOR! AN! ENTIRE! CLASS! SESSION!”

“I think she realized between how upset I was at the cafeteria and my body language as I walked down to the front that this was REALLY getting to me. She may not have thought about it when the seats were first rearranged.”

Her heart warmed. Alya tended to have a one-track mind, to go full steam ahead and not fully realize the consequences.

But if she realized there was a problem, that someone was hurting and needed help? She’d change course.

Alya had defended her against Chloe on her first day of school, knowing nothing but that she needed help, needed comfort, needed support. 

And here she was again, doing what she could to give her that support as best she knew how.

_ Adrien put up his hand. “Excuse me Miss Bustier, can I move, too, please? I'd like to sit next to Nino again.” She smiled, affirming that he could.  _

_ Adrien stood up and walked to the front. “Sorry Lila, he's my best friend.” _

_ That started a chain reaction, with everyone asking for their old seats back and the class going back to how it was - except for Lila, who stayed in the back. _

The screen turned black. 

“So everything went back to the way it was at the end?”

‘Marinette’ glared at her. “Yes, but everything everyone else did was so AWFUL, so UNFORGIVABLE that it doesn’t matter. THE SEATS MAY BE BACK TO NORMAL, BUT MY PAIN LIVES ON!”

Eyes narrowing, her double marched over to her, getting up in her face. “I don’t get it. Why don’t you share my hatred of them? My disdain? You saw what they did.”

She just sighed. 

“Looking at it, that day wasn’t great for that version of me. It would’ve hurt, knowing I had a good reason to dislike Lila, even to hate her, and everyone else just seeing me lashing out at her for no good reason, not knowing that she’d targeted me on purpose. Especially with Lila’s threat and dealing with that alone. I can see why that version of me would be so frustrated with her, especially having to watch her lie, KNOWING she’s lying, with only Adrien knowing about it!

It would’ve been stressful. But at the end of the day? Adrien tried to make things easier. Alya asked to change seats since she saw I needed the company. And no one held any of that against me - well, besides Lila I’m guessing. 

Maybe some things could’ve been better. But I’m not unhappy with how things turned out - especially since my friends supported me in their own ways, even if it didn’t involve lashing out against a threat that they didn’t even KNOW was a real threat.”

She felt a weird sense of peace. This whole time part of her had been nagging and nagging, wondering what could possibly have pushed this being over the edge, what could have caused her to hate Alya, to hate Adrien, to hate so many other people she cared about in her life. To want to hurt and warp them to persuade others to hate them as well. Wondered whether it was the sort of event that could have warped herself even remotely like her doppelganger was. 

Seeing the events she pointed to as the reasons to hate them? Knowing what justifications she used? 

She would not, could not become like this false self. This facade built from self-righteousness, arrogance, and complete self-centeredness.

She wouldn’t pretend that she didn’t possess any of those qualities at all - most people had some, that was healthy to an extent.

But she’d never go as far, have them be as unchecked as in her doppelganger.

Her friends had already seen that, had believed it in full.

And she did as well.

“If this is your trump card? It’s not going to work. Show me as many other scenes as you like. Try to tell me I should hate and despise my friends, should want to hurt them as much as you want. 

I will  _ NEVER _ be like you.

So either we can do this again and again, over and over, as many times as it takes for you to give up.

Or you can let me and my friends go.”

Her imposter gave her a hard look. It didn’t do much to intimidate her. Basically the only facial expressions she seemed to have were ‘anger and disgust, mostly related to supposedly being wronged somehow’ and ‘joy over getting to see other people hurt’, so she’d rather the former than the latter.

She held her gaze for what could’ve been two minutes or two hours, time stretching out between them.

At last, ‘Marinette’ shook her head. “You’re making a mistake. They’ll hurt you. Try to break you. Won’t give you what you deserve.”

“It’s not about what I ‘deserve’. It’s about what I need.

Maybe our relationships will get messy. Maybe we’ll have fights. Maybe we’ll make mistakes and get hurt.

But that’s a risk I’m willing to take. 

Because they’re worth fighting for.”

‘Marinette’ raised her hand, not breaking eye contact.

And snapped her fingers. 

The world exploded.

Went black.

And then there was nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was really important to me that even with Saltinette being the villain here, that she NOT be harmed. It'd feel too much like taking my frustration out on Marinette herself. Though I DID consider having Marinette punch Saltinette as an "affirmation of self" sort of thing, but decided against it.
> 
> But uh... yeah. Really breaking down Chameleon salt, when looking at the episode that spawned it, most of it doesn't really hold up very well. The whole "Adrien's responsible for Lila getting away with her lies" thing especially bothers me, since well. Marinette's far better able to take her down for her lies about her friendship with well, herself, and with easily being able to come up with excuses for why she's interfering, with saying that it's dangerous for a civilian to claim affiliation with her. Never really understood why she DIDN'T take Alya aside and tell her that at least, besides "plot convenience".
> 
> Most of Marinette's actions during Chameleon make sense considering what she knows at the time, and even her more overzealous actions are understandable with how ticked off she is (and for good reason). 
> 
> But to an outside observer who doesn't know everything she does? Not so much.


	11. Epilogue

…

…

…

Hm…?

A softness beneath her.

Heavy weight to her body.

Light filtering through closed eyelids.

She cracked her eyes open.

AH AH AH AH TOO LIGHT TOO LIGHT TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF

“Tunitoff” she muttered, making a halfhearted effort to move some limb to block out the accursed light.

Noise rustled next to her.

“Honey come over here, take a look!”

“What is it dear- Marinette!”

Instinctively she turned her head to the side, cracking open her eyes once again.

Two fuzzy shapes dominated her vision, sharpening into familiar figures.

“Maman…? Papa…?”

“We’re here.”

Wait, why would her parents be here waiting for her to wake up? 

And…

Wait.

Where was ‘here’?

“What- what happened to me?” she asked, her voice thin and reedy.

Her mom answered her. “We’re not sure. This nice old man found you and your friends passed out on a rooftop. None of the doctors could find anything wrong with you, you just… none of you would wake up.”

Her friends…?

Reassuring Alya after experiencing her Nightmare World.

Nino explaining his encounter with the warped version of herself.

Adrien believing in her, telling her that she’d never go as far as her copy.

And that copy trying her hardest to convince her to give up on them.

She bolted upright, lethargy forgotten. “ARE THEY OKAY WHERE ARE THEY-”

A nurse opened the door. “What’s going on- oh you’re awake.”

Her head whipped around. “The people who were with me, are they okay?!”

It  _ sounded _ like ‘Marinette’ was agreeing to free them before, but she’d never explicitly said she would, and with how much she hated them? She wasn’t counting on them being in good shape even if they WERE freed. Heck, she didn’t even know whether they were okay just after she’d been pulled through that portal and separated from them in the first place!

A commotion came from the hall. “WHERE’S MARINETTE?!”

The nurse sighed. “That makes the fourth one. I appreciate that you’re all worried about each other, but there ARE other patients in this ward trying to rest.”

The fourth…? So then..!

Her heart pounded. “They’re all awake too?”

“Yes, the first of you woke up just a few minutes ago, then another a minute later, and well, sounds like the last one’s up too.”

They were awake.

They were alive.

And judging from that outcry a moment ago? They were themselves.

She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment of rest.

They were safe.

“Can I see them?”

Her mom looked at her, concerned. “Honey you just woke up, and we don’t even know what - actually, can you tell us what happened?”

Huh.

Well at least she could be truthful.

“I’m not sure. One minute we were all having a picnic, then some white stuff came down from the sky and then… I guess we passed out?”

Her mom frowned. “An akuma maybe? We didn’t hear anything on the news, but some of them aren’t widely known and it’d explain why all of you woke up at once - never seen Ladybug and Chat Noir take that long to defeat one though. I hope they’re okay.”

Marinette just hummed.

Not an akuma, but probably safer to let everyone think that was the culprit.

Besides, she didn’t actually know what’d happened.

She sat up, trying to move to a more upright position once again.

Which was when she discovered all the tubes sticking out from her that she’d been too worried and exhausted to notice before.

“...How long was I out?”

“Somewhere between 22 and 24 hours, depending on how long you four were unconscious before you were discovered.”

Well that explained the need for all the tubes, especially with them not knowing how long she was gonna need them. She still needed nutrients, water, and to…

She blushed. “Uh… could we get all these tubes out of me? Please?”

* * *

After an examination by some doctors and being declared healthy, they removed the equipment. She promptly made a break for the bathroom. Didn’t help much since there wasn’t actually anything to get rid of, but it felt better afterwards at least. Catheters were NOT fun.

Her friends were similarly getting prepared to be able to leave. She didn’t get to see them unfortunately - by the time everything was done it was pretty late, and all of them were leaving pretty soon after being declared healthy. 

It worried her and she didn’t think she’d feel truly satisfied until she saw them again.

She touched her earrings. 

Luckily, that didn’t have to be very long.

MARINETTE may need to go home for the day.

LADYBUG had other plans.

First though, there was something she’d been wondering about. She hadn’t really had time to ask during the only time she’d had alone before this in the bathroom (plus she REALLY didn’t want to talk about anything at that time). 

Safely upstairs in her bedroom though?

“Tikki? Are you there?”

The little ladybug kwami flew out from her purse. “Marinette!”

“Tikki!”

She hugged her kwami as best she could, Tikki snuggling up against her. She’d worried about her kwami before with all their Miraculous missing, and while after she woke up she’d figured it was just because Tikki wasn’t affected by whatever-that-was and so wasn’t in the dream state, without being able to actually see her? Part of her just didn’t quite believe it.

After a moment they separated slightly, Tikki floating a foot away. 

“Tikki, what happened?”

“After you all collapsed we all spent a few minutes trying to wake you up, even getting… creative.”

“Creative?”

Did she WANT to know?

Tikki read her expression. She made a face. “Plagg thought that true love’s kiss might wake Adrien up. So he kissed him. On the lips.”

Well.

Points for Plagg being willing to go to great lengths to help Adrien she guessed?

“Luckily the salt stuff doesn’t affect us apparently. Plagg didn’t think to brush it off before kissing him.”

“Wait, salt stuff?”

Tikki shrugged. “That’s what Plagg said it tasted like.”

She continued. “Anyway after a few more minutes of that kind of thing, Wayzz flew off and got Master Fu. When he couldn’t figure it out either he contacted your parents, claiming he recognized you from when he’s seen you run out of the bakery. He didn’t even need to lie about that; he just recounted that time he chose you when you ‘saved’ him from walking into the road. From there your parents were able to contact everyone else’s parents and got you all shipped to the hospital.”

So that explained how they all got there. She’d figured as much, but it was good to hear it confirmed.

But it wasn’t what she meant.

“No, I mean, what was that salty stuff? Why were we out? And what was up with that dream world were in?”

“Dream world?”

Tikki didn’t seem surprised exactly, more thoughtful.

“Yeah. All of us were in it together - well not at first and I got separated at the end, but for most of it.”

The kwami hummed for a moment. “Can you tell me exactly what happened? I have some ideas, but that’ll help pin it down.”

She recounted the whole thing. Tikki nodded periodically, occasionally comforting her when she mentioned something disturbing, but didn’t interrupt.

At last she finished with Saltinette’s snap(after hearing of Plagg’s experience she figured it was a good nickname and it beat calling her ‘imposter’ all the time).

Tikki closed her eyes and crossed her arms for a minute.

“...Well?” Marinette asked.

Tikki opened her eyes again. “I suspect you four were pulled into some sort of rift energy between the dimensions.”

What?

“I have no idea what that means.”

“It’s like... “

She flew off, retrieving some pieces of paper Marinette had cut up earlier for a project.

She started moving the pieces around. “Normally different dimensions stay separate. But sometimes they collide.”

The paper ran into each other, crinkling both pieces.

“When that happens sometimes they’ll stick together briefly, and with the collision… well, sometimes things can leak from one world into another.”

Marinette frowned. “But these weren’t normal, full worlds. And Saltinette mentioned something about a ‘Source Universe’?”

Tikki nodded. “These dimensions aren’t always the same kind as this one. Some can be a bit more… ethereal. Conceptual. 

As for the Source Universe thing, Saltinette was right. I noticed we separated as soon as that akuma appeared that revealed everyone’s identities. It doesn’t really affect us much per se, but it DOES mean that whatever we do will stay mostly localized to just this universe - a Source Universe creates and affects an endless multitude of universes that spawned from it, often even after those universes separated.”

“So then… what WAS Saltinette? And why’d she go after us?”

“I’m not totally sure, but I think she might’ve been an offshoot from several other universes that split off from the Source, particularly of their negativity. If enough negative energy coalesces… well, you know how powerful that can be. Papillon uses that to warp and control people. If enough of it floats off of dimensions? They can make an entirely new dimensional being.”

“So she WAS the dimension?”

“Probably. She may not have had full control of all aspects though; she’d be more of an emerging consciousness rather than one that created everything from scratch. Plus well, it’s not like you consciously control or are even aware of everything your own body does, it just does it.”

That explained why she hadn’t been more effective at thwarting the four of them at least. 

She frowned. “Wait, if her dimension was more ethereal and if she just captured our minds… what would’ve happened if we’d stayed? If she hadn’t let us go?”

Tikki looked uncomfortable. “None of you would’ve woken up. Ever. And with your minds disconnected from your bodies, even your bodies perishing wouldn’t have freed you.”

WHAT.

“...I’m gonna try not to think about the implications of that.”

Tikki nodded vigorously. “Good idea! Maybe do something a little happier?”

Something happier…

Oh yeah!

“Hey Tikki, you up for transforming?”

* * *

Ladybug soared through the city.

This joy, this freedom, she’d come so close to never knowing it again - not really. Not truly. 

Maybe Saltinette could’ve made a Miraculous facsimile for her to pretend with. Would’ve created an entire fawning population to base their whole lives around her, to ensure that any ‘wrong’ committed against her was repaid a thousand-fold.

But those facsimilies wouldn’t have been real.

Those people wouldn’t have been real.

They’d have just been a fantasy, and ultimately? 

Her only company would’ve been a twisted version of herself.

Interacting with others carried risks. 

Misunderstandings happened.

Some people were even malicious.

Feelings could fray, people could lash out, say and do things they’d later regret.

But ultimately?

Ultimately it was worth it.

She alighted on the designated rooftop, Chat Noir, Carapace, and Rena Rouge already there looking worried.

They turned at the sound.

Ecstatic, raw joy filling their expressions as they realized she was there.

That she was okay.

Rushing over to her.

And mobbing her in a bone-crushing group hug.

She returned it as best she could, stretching her arms out in an attempt to encircle all three of them.

They were here.

They were okay.

If Saltinette had decided to keep them…!

...Maybe she couldn’t have.

Even during the short time they were there they kept breaking through her manipulations.

Through her control.

They always shown through.


End file.
